In
the year 1968, when the hippie movement was in full swing across the US, the
pastor of a traditional church named Chuck Smith meets a young man named Lonnie
Frisbee. The unlikely duo ends up working together to turn Smith’s slowly dying
church into a place where the younger generation can come to learn the message
of Jesus. An instant success, the church attracts a young man named Greg Laurie
and his girlfriend Cathe. The couple has been experimenting with drugs but have
changed their minds about the value of that life when Cathe’s sister almost
dies of an overdose. Hesitant at first, they both end up accepting Jesus as
their savior, and are drawn into the life of the community of young believers.
This
is an excellent film with standout performances by Kelsey Grammer as Chuck
Smith and Jonathan Roumie as Lonnie Frisbee. It covers the beginnings of what
came to be called the Jesus Revolution (given that name by Time magazine and
thus the name of the film), that ended up spreading across the country and
spawning hundreds of new churches within the five years of its occurrence. But
most of all, it is a story of a young man who is struggling to find something
to believe in and a mission for his life. In the midst of all this, the private
lives of all the people involved come into focus, the bad sides as well as the
good, and give this a depth that is not usually present in a historical drama,
making it all that much more involving. Though it received mixed reviews from
the critics, it was the surprise box office hit of the 2023 summer, taking in
over twice as much money as it was forecasted to, and ending up at the number
three spot for the top movies of its debut weekend. An excellent one, even for
those who don’t care about religion or Christianity, it is great for families
as well as date night.
No comments:
Post a Comment