Faith-based films have always carried a certain stigma. Often overbearing in their message and underdeveloped in their construction, they often put their message over developing a compelling cinematic experience. There are exceptions to this; however, for every “Passion of the Christ” there are a dozen poorly made films to accompany it. “Jesus Revolution,” while flawed, delivers quite well and feels refreshing.
The biggest compliment that I can give “Jesus Revolution” is that it feels nuanced. There’s no overtly heavy-handed messaging throughout the film. Of course, the film covers familiar Christian themes. However, the film does not feel overtly preachy.
“Jesus Revolution’s” message and theme is handled very well, surprisingly. The film is based on the real-life spiritual movement in the United States in the 1970s. In short, the hippie movement blended with Christianity and made a change in the church. It focuses primarily on grappling with the questions, “Who can spread the gospel?, “What is worship?” and “Is there a right way to be religious?”
I think these questions and the general theme of unity and understanding is an extremely important one to highlight today in a time that is full of division, hate and indifference. There is a lesson that can be learned here in “Jesus Revolution.” I applaud the film for presenting these themes and questions and sticking to them without villainizing opposing views.
Co-directors, Jon Erwin and Brent McCorkle, and cinematographer, Akis Konstantakopoulos, do a solid job directing and shooting throughout. Shots feel purposefully framed, lit and executed. There are quite a few gorgeous scenes shot on location on the beaches of California. The use of natural lighting from the sun was particularly effective.
Jon Erwin, in particular, has a bright future ahead of him, especially in making faith-forward films. His work here and in 2021’s “American Underdog”, a biopic about NFL Quarterback Kurt Warner, feel very well balanced. He understands that films need to balance their messaging with telling a captivating story as well.
The acting is fine for the most part. There are no outstanding performances, but there aren’t any awful ones present either. Jonathan Roumie is quite good in the role of Lonnie Frisbee. He’s the lead throughout most of the first half before having his role unfortunately reduced a bit in the second half. His performance is the strongest here among a relatively unknown cast. His performance is solid; however, it is helped given that his character is arguably the only strongly developed one in the script.
I really wish the film ended as well as it started, unfortunately. The first half is very strong, presenting the aforementioned themes and characters very well. However, the second half and the drama presented feel quite forced.
In particular, the main character, Lonnie Frisbee, begins making very out-of-character decisions for no inherent reason. His decisions do not really make sense given how his character is set up and presented. He and multiple other characters seem to make decisions simply for the sake of having more melodramatic moments in the third act. While it’s not completely terrible, it is still rather frustrating.
Though the film was a bit heavy-handed in its messaging, I still found the script weak for other reasons. My main problem is a lot of the films feel extremely shallow character-wise. There is the extremely judgmental church crowd with no characteristics other than being judgmental. There is the hippie crowd that just simply exists. A lot of the characters just feel like caricatures for the most part.
Overall, “Jesus Revolution” is a flawed albeit solid film. In terms of Christian films, I must say this is one of the better ones that I have seen. The overall look of the film and its dedication to providing a nuanced look at what it means to be religious and make a change in the church outweighs the flat characters and script issues.
6/10
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