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| Me after God's Not Dead |
This next review takes a personal turn for me. For those readers who don’t know, I am Christian and damn proud of it. The movie under my microscope of criticism is the Newsboys’ film God’s Not Dead. Since I and the filmmakers share the same faith; my words will be from a Christian perspective. However, don’t assume that my criticism will be softened. With those facts in mind, lets dive into this pseudo-train wreck. Disclaimer: there will be spoilers.
IMDB
Rotten Tomatoes
genres: drama, religious/spiritual
Concept:
A disturbing amount of Christian movies are based on worship songs. God’s Not Dead attempts to tell an inspirational story of a young Christian man standing up for his faith in a hostile academic environment. Inter-meshed with the main plot are a series of side stories; all of them further inspirational faith stories. Like all other “Christian” labeled films, this one has a specific message. Fireproof is about martial solidarity in the Christian home. Courageous is about Godly fatherhood. God’s Not Dead is about defending/keeping faith in the face of adversity. These movies also check other boxes as well: belief and faith in God, all characters persevering and a happy ending. Is there a fundamental problem with these movies? No, however, often the message eclipses quality. Sadly, God’s Not Dead does suffer from this problem. I don’t begrudge intent of the film: to inspire Christians to defend their faith. Unfortunately, the core premise is constructed with the message as the foundation. The premise becomes unrealistic, almost parodying itself with how silly it is. All because the message can’t be subtle and must beat its audience into submission. Despite the poor execution, there is a list of class action lawsuits involving universities rejecting the first amendment rights of Christian organizations on their respective campuses. I liked this, but it felt like the film makers were trying to defend their contrived premise by showing the audience real world cases. The movie’s ethos did not increase. The premise: Christian freshman Josh Wheaton takes a philosophy class to fulfill his liberal arts requirement, but is warned that the professor is a stanch atheist. Professor Radisson makes an ultimatum: write down “God is Dead” on a blank paper or take a failing grade for a third of the class. Josh takes a stand and Radisson offers him a deal. Josh will have three twenty minute periods to convince the class of God’s existence or face academic suicide. *cue the dramatic music. Characters:
Josh Wheaton (Shane Harper) is the resident defender of all Christendom and college freshman. He represents the average Christian youth with big dreams and his life on the right track. Open, moral, friendly and a loving boyfriend, Josh seems a little bland. That changes with his first confrontation with Professor Radisson. Then the fire of conviction ignites and he takes a stand against the academic tyrant. While his sacrifices are not great, his loses do weight heavy on him. He struggles and regrets, but charges head on into Radisson’s challenge. Unfortunately, his conviction causes him to be a one-dimensional character.
Professor Radisson (Kevin Sorbo) is a philosophy professor whose atheism runs deep, to the point of irrationality. I had quite a few problems with this character. He has no redeeming qualities at all. The guy is an asshole inside the class and outside it as well. I am fine with characters that have abrasive personalities or isn’t liked by anyone else as long as they have a redeeming quality. No logical reason is provided for his worthlessness as a person and character. It is revealed that he was raised in a Christian home, but due to cancer stealing his mother away too early he rejected God. That scenario doesn’t explain his obscene amounts of arrogance. It felt like his character’s purpose was to be the evil straw man atheist for Josh to win against.
Pastor Dave (David A.R. White) is a local Pastor that struggles with being stuck at his church instead being “in the trenches” of the mission field. Josh receives advice from him about Radisson’s challenge. Dave is one of the characters I wish the plot focused on more. His spiritual issue is more mature and relatable to a Christian audience. Unfortunately because he doesn’t appear on screen; he is also one dimensional.
Amy Ryan (Trisha LeFache) is liberal ambush reporter who seems to target Christian people or organizations. At the beginning of the film she is dating Mark (Mina’s corporate jerk brother). As the film progresses, her doctor tells her she has cancer. Like Dave, I wish the film had spent more time on her. Her circumstances are by far the most dire. Cancer turns her life upside down and there is nothing she can do about it.
Ayisha (Hadeel Sittu) is an Arabic girl turned Christian sometime before the film starts and works at the university cafeteria. However, she lives with her conservative Muslim father and hides her faith from him. Amy and her take first place for “the most realistic problems” award. As a religion, Islam doesn’t take kindly to family members seeking out other faiths. Her father kicking her out of the house is probably the most heart breaking scene in the movie.
Martin Yip (Paul Kwo) is Josh’s Chinese classmate in philosophy. Through Josh’s twenty minute lecture, he starts to believe in God’s existence. By the end of the film he becomes a believer. Many critics have accursed Martin’s and Ayisha’s characters to be stereotypes. However, I think the film handled both characters rather well. It is likely that Martin would be an atheist since the Chinese government officially endorses atheism over any religious belief.
Mina (Cory Oliver) is Radisson’s former student and current girlfriend whose mother suffers from severe dementia. She foils Josh as a character. Unlike the freshmen defender of Christendom, she put her relationship with God on the sidelines to date Radisson. Though her motivation for that decision confused me because he still raging asshole to her. Eventually she wises up and dumps him in front of his colleagues. That in combination with Josh’s defense of God causes Radisson to reconsider his stance on God.
Rev Jude (Benjamin Ochieng) is Dave’s friend and fellow church elder from the mission field. The two had plans to take a vacation to Disney Land, circumstances keep them in the city. He provides encouragement for Dave and constantly reminds him that God is good. X-ray medical diagnosis also seems to be one of his skills.
The Newsboys (The band) helped produce the movie and play themselves, need I say anymore?
Story:
Story:
This movie is complicated for me. While the plot revolves around Josh’s conflict with Radisson, the background teems with other stories. All the plot lines are resolved before or at the Newsboys concert. Not all the characters are aware of each other’s existence or how each person fits in the big picture which is great. Probably my favorite aspect of God’s Not Dead is variety of characters and circumstances, yet they all have one thing in common: God. Martin’s, Ayisha’s and Amy’s stories are by far the best plots line. These people represent real struggles versus the rest of the characters whose stories are a bit more contrived. Suffering is a theme that Christian movies tend to lack. If characters suffer at all, it’s generally resolved by the end. Thankfully, this film does a decent job of creating problems without easy answers. As I stated earlier, Ayisha discovered betrayal is tough to watch. She loves Jesus, but wishes to remain with her father and brother. Both father and daughter are weeping at the end of that encounter. The night after Amy gets the bad news from her doctor, she breaks down. Her fame and renown were her hope, but those don’t matter to the dying and the dead. Near the end, she ambushes the Newsboys like shes always did, but her circumstances flip the situation. The drummer asks, “What’s your hope?” She answers, “I’m dying of cancer.” She affirms Christ with the band. The cancer isn’t going to go away, but she has an everlasting hope. It’s probably my third favorite scene in the film. Unfortunately, God’s Not Dead falls on its face too much for the good parts to shine. Problems:
The number of problems in this film are a little overwhelming. I wanted to like this movie, really I did. Its wonderful intention get swallowed in a sea of poor execution. Let’s start with the core: Josh’s deal with devil. I stated in the concept section that the message causes quality to suffer. The writers for this film seem incapable of conjuring a realistic scenario where Josh’s faith would be challenged, thus the half-baked Radisson deal is what the audience got instead.
Premise Issues:
1) Radisson is the crappiest philosophy professor of all time. There is no way in any possible universe this guy would be respected by any of his colleagues. A large portion of philosophical theory and debate have been built from the affirmation or denial of God’s existence. It’s one of the fundamental subjects that almost all philosophers wrote about at some point in their lives. A philosophy professor who teaches an intro to philosophy class and ignores the God issue entirely is a professor without a job in the real world.
2) One philosophy class will determine Josh’s academic future for his pre-law degree. They seriously except me to believe that? I went to college, thus I know that is a load of bull-hockey. Why would a law school care about what grade this kid got in a freshman philosophy class? The answer: they wouldn’t. Law school is competitive, but only if you do bad in a lot of classes or ones that matter for your degree. This why Kara (Josh’s girl friend) pissed me off as a character. It seemed like her only role was to encourage Josh’s abandonment of defending his faith. She’s entirely unnecessary.
3) Radisson’s deal is academically fraudulent. It is true that universities, especially super liberal ones, are hostile to Christianity. However, Radisson asks his students to potentially compromise their religious belief or they will receive a failing grade for part of the class. No university worth its salt would ever endorse behavior like that in an academic setting, especially from a professor. Instead of accepting Radisson’s deal, Josh should have refused and complained to “higher authorities” about Radisson acting with prejudice against his religion. I’d bet all my buttons the university would fire that guy.
4) Josh doesn’t present his case in philosophical terms. During his three twenty minute presentations, Josh talks about the big bang, evolution and mostly science centric stuff. Philosophy and science parted ways like fifteen hundred years ago. To put the nail in the coffin, Radisson refutes Josh’s big bang theory (no pun intended) with a quote from Steven Hawkins about a self creating universe. What the hell? Hawkins is scientist, not philosopher. That’s a great segue into my next point.
5) Radisson isn’t really a philosophy professor. Now the film continues to tell me that he is, but I know better. None of his refutations are philosophical. In Josh’s final session he brings up free will being the cause of evil in the world and Radisson seems defeated. Sadly, that theodicy (a defense of why a good God allows evil) has been refuted by a plethora of philosophers. The reason: human free will doesn’t explain natural disasters, disease, etc. If Radisson was a real philosophy professor, he would know that. Free will causing sin is sound Christian theology, but philosophy is not theology.
6) Josh doesn’t actually win the argument using a legitimate method and contradicts himself. In his last presentation, Josh states that science proves God’s existence, yet in his first presentation, he agrees with Radisson that proving God’s existence through science is impossible. A big ethos problem right there. Josh finishes his science statement by asking why Radisson hates God. The Professor spills the beans on his mother dying of cancer. Josh triumphantly states, “How can you hate something that doesn’t exist?” He doesn’t convince anyone of God’s existence, only that Radisson is a crappy professor. Yet, the whole class proclaims that God is not dead.
7) Every non-Christian person in the movie is a jerk. Mark (Mina’s brother and former boy friend of Amy) is a gapping asshole. It’s so bad; I don’t believe such a person exists. About mid-way through Amy confesses to Mark that she has cancer. To her face he says, “couldn’t that have waited until tomorrow?” There’s no way someone who had been in any kind of relationship with Amy could just blow that news off. It’s like the movie is saying, “because this man doesn’t have Christ, he’s giant dick.” That doesn’t add anything the cast of characters, just seems heavy handed. Radisson’s treatment of Mina and the way his department colleagues act are another good example. They all treat Mina like she is a peasant because she believes in God. The movie is saying, “Intellectualism and faith should never mix because being ‘intellectual’ makes you a jerk.” Amy is also a jerk, until she gets cancer.
Premise Issues:
1) Radisson is the crappiest philosophy professor of all time. There is no way in any possible universe this guy would be respected by any of his colleagues. A large portion of philosophical theory and debate have been built from the affirmation or denial of God’s existence. It’s one of the fundamental subjects that almost all philosophers wrote about at some point in their lives. A philosophy professor who teaches an intro to philosophy class and ignores the God issue entirely is a professor without a job in the real world.
2) One philosophy class will determine Josh’s academic future for his pre-law degree. They seriously except me to believe that? I went to college, thus I know that is a load of bull-hockey. Why would a law school care about what grade this kid got in a freshman philosophy class? The answer: they wouldn’t. Law school is competitive, but only if you do bad in a lot of classes or ones that matter for your degree. This why Kara (Josh’s girl friend) pissed me off as a character. It seemed like her only role was to encourage Josh’s abandonment of defending his faith. She’s entirely unnecessary.
3) Radisson’s deal is academically fraudulent. It is true that universities, especially super liberal ones, are hostile to Christianity. However, Radisson asks his students to potentially compromise their religious belief or they will receive a failing grade for part of the class. No university worth its salt would ever endorse behavior like that in an academic setting, especially from a professor. Instead of accepting Radisson’s deal, Josh should have refused and complained to “higher authorities” about Radisson acting with prejudice against his religion. I’d bet all my buttons the university would fire that guy.
4) Josh doesn’t present his case in philosophical terms. During his three twenty minute presentations, Josh talks about the big bang, evolution and mostly science centric stuff. Philosophy and science parted ways like fifteen hundred years ago. To put the nail in the coffin, Radisson refutes Josh’s big bang theory (no pun intended) with a quote from Steven Hawkins about a self creating universe. What the hell? Hawkins is scientist, not philosopher. That’s a great segue into my next point.
5) Radisson isn’t really a philosophy professor. Now the film continues to tell me that he is, but I know better. None of his refutations are philosophical. In Josh’s final session he brings up free will being the cause of evil in the world and Radisson seems defeated. Sadly, that theodicy (a defense of why a good God allows evil) has been refuted by a plethora of philosophers. The reason: human free will doesn’t explain natural disasters, disease, etc. If Radisson was a real philosophy professor, he would know that. Free will causing sin is sound Christian theology, but philosophy is not theology.
6) Josh doesn’t actually win the argument using a legitimate method and contradicts himself. In his last presentation, Josh states that science proves God’s existence, yet in his first presentation, he agrees with Radisson that proving God’s existence through science is impossible. A big ethos problem right there. Josh finishes his science statement by asking why Radisson hates God. The Professor spills the beans on his mother dying of cancer. Josh triumphantly states, “How can you hate something that doesn’t exist?” He doesn’t convince anyone of God’s existence, only that Radisson is a crappy professor. Yet, the whole class proclaims that God is not dead.
7) Every non-Christian person in the movie is a jerk. Mark (Mina’s brother and former boy friend of Amy) is a gapping asshole. It’s so bad; I don’t believe such a person exists. About mid-way through Amy confesses to Mark that she has cancer. To her face he says, “couldn’t that have waited until tomorrow?” There’s no way someone who had been in any kind of relationship with Amy could just blow that news off. It’s like the movie is saying, “because this man doesn’t have Christ, he’s giant dick.” That doesn’t add anything the cast of characters, just seems heavy handed. Radisson’s treatment of Mina and the way his department colleagues act are another good example. They all treat Mina like she is a peasant because she believes in God. The movie is saying, “Intellectualism and faith should never mix because being ‘intellectual’ makes you a jerk.” Amy is also a jerk, until she gets cancer.
I don’t know whether the writers were lazy or if they wanted to make sure the message wasn’t comprised in any way shape or form. Even as Christian, they can’t expect me to take this seriously. The whole situation is a joke. I believe that most of the content in the movie happens outside of fiction. There are last minute death bed confession. Young Islamic people are thrown of their home or killed because of a faith in Jesus. Terminal illness does rock some people out of their rejection of God. Some people come to Christ through hearing a defense of God and the Bible. However, having all of those plots happen in the same fictional film makes it heavy handed. The film makers are trying so hard to convince the audience of the saving power of God that the story looks like a fairy tale. If I can’t watch this seriously, how can they expect a non-believer to do it.
If you thought my deconstruction of the plot ends here, it doesn’t. The main plot line is full of holes which helps the subplots shine even brighter. Martin, Ayisha, Amy, and Dave all have stories that are far more interesting because they are more based in reality. I would love to see a movie about an Arab teen coming to Christ and struggling to keep it hidden from the family or having the courage to tell their family. That is a movie plot firmly planted in reality and has a strong evangelical message. Both Ayisha and Martin share this very real problem. Unlike Josh who really doesn’t lose anything, the other two have real and brutal consequences because of their faith or confession of faith.
The scene that broke the camel’s back was Radisson’s death. After his final talk with Josh, Mina dumping him and reading his mother’s letter, Radisson finally starts to show some remorse for being a giant tool. By looking a newspaper, he realizes she’s at the Newsboys concert. He rushes out to meet her. At a crosswalk he strides out into the street only to get hit by Mark’s car (at least I think so, not 100% sure on that). Thankfully, Dave and Jude are there to receive his last minute conversion to Christianity before he dies. What? That is some contrived bull-hockey. Radisson has to die before he accepts Christ? Why? There was no reason for his death. Honestly, I think the film makers did it to save time. Either way, it’s awful.
Production:
Production:
Despite the horrendous hemorrhaging goodness out of the story, the production value of God’s Not Dead is great. It’s easily the best looking Christian film to date. A great cast offers up some top notch acting. There were very few times that any person’s acting got in the way of my viewing pleasure. The camera shots were fantastic. Folks did a good job making this movie look good, just wish they had done the same for the writing.
Score: 5/10
Score: 5/10
I’d like to think this movie has potential to be better. The jury is still out on that one. It was better that I thought it would be. Some scenes were emotionally commanding. Ultimately, I don’t know why this movie exists. Was it supposed to inspire evangelism among Christians or change the hearts of the non-believers who saw it? Either way neither goal was accomplished. Want some motivation to do the Lord’s work? Read 2 Corinthians 5:14-16.
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