Tag Archives: Uplifting

Rudy

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Imagine you’re getting ready to win a big Football season when all of a sudden a kid walks up to you and calls himself Rudy. You’re probably going to be a little confused and worried all at the same time because you life’s never going to be the same. Well that’s what happened in this film based on a true story. Rudy really turned the whole Notre Dame story on its head and he did so with ease!

The movie introduces us to Rudy who has always liked College Football. His family are really into it as well and so Rudy says that one day he will join the team. The problem is that he’s rather small and doesn’t have a very athletic build. He usually isn’t able to keep up with the other kids and this has been true even once he grew up. He’s now 22 and still hasn’t achieved his dreams. Well, he decides to head to school and give it a shot but does he really have what it takes to win?

Naturally it’s all a longshot, I’m sure many people tried exactly what he did and got turned away at the door. Ultimately you need perfect timing and a lot of heart to pull this off. So you’re rooting for Rudy and are glad that it worked out but you can definitely see why the coaches would be skeptical. Each Football game requires a lot of concentration and talent. All it takes is one wrong loss to start a streak of losses so you don’t want to mess with the flow. The film does a good job of showing just how unassuming Rudy is but of course the catch to that is that at the same time he just doesn’t feel like he’s Football ready.

It’s an uplifting story regardless as you are glad things worked out well for him. Socially it was tough as well as his family was rather hard on him the whole time and then he found himself single for a good part of the journey. He also had to try and be someone’s wingman in order to get the tips he needed to succeed at school. That’s a rough setup I have to admit because the whole thing is already a red flag for anyone he approaches. Why would you go out with someone who isn’t confident enough to ask them out himself? Fortunately the friend gets braver by the end of the film as well.

It would have been nice to have gotten more Football screentime though. I know this is Rudy’s story and since he didn’t take the field until the very end that would have been tough but seeing more Football action would have been great. That is some of the best stuff after all. We do get to see Rudy training though as he gets destroyed on the field a whole lot but never gives up. Now that is true dedication. He always had the heart for this even if he didn’t have the talent.

There was a nice employee at the field who also pointed out how things were looking up either way. Rudy got a great education thanks to this which is more than most people can really say. A lot of the time you have to choose between education or sports but in this case he got both so he will be pretty well set for after his very brief career ended. It takes him a while to really appreciate this though.

The movie tends to be on the unassuming side so don’t expect a grand soundtrack, dynamic camera angles, or any big splash type scenes that stand out. Instead this is all about the journey and it’s a well written one. The movie is fairly long but feels fast as you’re watching it. Because of how direct the film is, there isn’t a whole lot to say about it though. You more or less know what’s going to happen from the overall vibes that the film has but the execution doesn’t leave you with any problems.

If they ever did a sequel, maybe we could see what Rudy got up to after his career was over. I imagine it would essentially be a slice of life film but with this crew I think it would work out. It would still be interesting enough and at the end of the day that’s why writing is so important. Any film could and should be entertaining if it’s handled right and this would probably be one of my best go to examples. Because on paper you might think it sounds a bit boring but it’s good quality nonetheless.

Overall, Rudy is a fun film to watch. I would say there isn’t a whole lot to it next to other biographical films. You don’t have a ton of tragedies happening to the main character and the actual payoff is very fast. That said, it’s fun to watch a light film like this. Sometimes you don’t need all of the extra stuff. Just give me an entertaining film with a good story and I’m set. This film had both of those aspects so I felt pretty good on this end. If you like Football or enjoy a good story then I’d say to check this one out.

A Christmas Blessing Review

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It’s time for a more classic kind of Great American Family title and this one is definitely up for the task. Sometimes when it’s Christmas time you can’t just be stuffing your face. Instead it’s time to make a difference in the world and that’s exactly what Mandy aims to do by bringing back a food pantry. It’s a movie that definitely stays fun all the way through.

The movie starts out with Mandy retiring from her food show which had been a global sensation. She is now going to travel the world and try all kinds of new food dishes but first she has to stop by her aunt’s home. Her aunt passed away and so this passed onto Mandy but apparently the place used to be a big food pantry. Mandy is convinced by one of her aunt’s old friends Otto that she should give the food pantry one last Christmas. She will have to work fast to get volunteers since the year is almost up though and will the new owner Adam be patient about this?

It can always be tough when you have a deal ready to go and one side backs out at the last second. So I can cut Adam some slack here because that’s rough no matter what the context is. That said, he is also pretty agreeable about it the whole time. He is even quick to help out with getting the food ready. He does end up getting a romance set up with Mandy so you could say he’s not being completely objective here but for the most part he does seem like a good guy so I don’t think it’s very far from the norm or anything like that.

I was also glad that he looked into the mysterious Otto to make sure that Mandy wasn’t going to be in any danger. That actually makes a lot of sense to me. Even if Otto wasn’t too mysterious, there is never anything wrong with doing a background check. Adam was a very realistic guy and so he did good in his role. Meanwhile Mandy was a solid main character. She was really able to put her food skills to good use here. Additionally, she was not too quick to give up or anything like that.

She is perhaps a bit trusting at times but I won’t fault her hard for that. Without her the whole food pantry wouldn’t have had a chance and in the end it turned out really well. Most characters wouldn’t be able to say they pulled this off. Of course the big MVP here was Otto. He showed up out of the blue and really played the sentimental card which got Mandy to go through with keeping the pantry up. Without him, she would have just closed it and gone off to eat at a restaurant.

He may be cryptic the whole film but he is definitely a good person. He does act very unnaturally though so you understand why the other characters doubt him. He makes sure to always answer every question very carefully so you can almost see him choosing his words. For that reason you know what he is saying is accurate but at the same time it could also be very misleading. Those are often the trickiest fellows to keep track of.

There is also a backup romance going on here with Adam’s brother (Or cousin, I forget exactly) and one of the volunteers but it feels very tacked on the whole time. It didn’t really need to be around and for the most part he was a jerk the whole time so I don’t see why she would fall for him. At one point he basically parks right in the street and isn’t very apologetic about the whole thing. Throw in the fact that he made a huge slip-up in the contract in the beginning and he was a very weak character here. You can’t be making mistakes like that when a huge part of your job is setting up these contracts.

The movie balanced out all the fun with realistic factors pretty well. For example at first we see everyone rejecting the pantry and the reasons are valid. One character explains that her company has to put everything in writing before the end of the fiscal year end so that way it all balances out perfectly. She’s not trying to rain on the parade or anything like that but it’s just the way the company policy is and she can’t go against it. I imagine that would be the case for most people, particularly since Mandy was trying to amass pounds and pounds of food. It’s not like pledging a sandwich for a party coming up or anything like that.

Then as the film goes on things begin to work out and it even takes some supernatural abilities. That helps take care of the realism part of it. Ultimately there was no way to do this without Otto pulling some strings and then the whole thing clicked. The movie’s romance is a bit on the weak side but beyond that, this is a quality movie the whole way through. The pacing is good and the writing is on point so I can’t really ask for anything more than that. This film could also have potential for a sequel. We know the pantry will keep going now but if they can squeeze in a plot of Mandy travelling the world, maybe the gimmick can be that she helps someone at every stop.

Overall, This was a pretty fun film. One of those movies that is just easy viewing for any time, but particularly during Christmas. The food looked good even if some of the fancier restaurant dishes were a bit pretentious for my liking. Seriously food never needs to be fancy, as long as it is tasty then that is good enough for me. A Christmas Blessing reminds you that at the end of the day you can always find a way to help people out. Mandy and her team put in the effort and helped quite a lot of people out. It’s a very heart warming kind of story.

Overall 7/10

Star in the Night Review

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It’s time to take a look at a movie that is very short but still ends up being great. It’s a perfect example of how you can have a great film with developed characters in a really short period of time. The overall message is very clear and executed well. I had a really good time with this one and would definitely recommend it to anyone. It’s super accessible to fans of any genre.

The film has a Hitchhiker stop by a local motel where he is hoping for a place to shelter from the cold for a while and maybe get a hot coffee. The owner isn’t very hospitable though. His name is Nick and he feels like people don’t actually spread goodwill around Christmas. It’s Christmas time right now and yet everyone is as rude as ever. One lady is always complaining about the noise, one guy comes in to complain about his dry cleaning, etc. Nobody seems to actually be in a good mood and they just fake it for a while. The Hitchhiker disagrees and believes that people actually do get nicer on Christmas and that’s when you see their true selves. Will he be proven correct before the night is over? There will be a good opportunity to see how this plays as a young couple runs in with the wife about to give birth. The motel has no available rooms and everyone’s already stressed out…how will this end?

I’d say the character who deserves the most amount of credit here is Nick’s wife Rosa. From the start she is the only character who actually does seem to care about everyone and she is doing her best to make things turn out well. Even before the other characters start to turn around, Rosa was consistent right from the jump. Whether it’s in offering her own blankets for a guest to use or running around to get some clean clothes and fresh drinks, Rosa was doing everything. She never got jaded or let the world beat her down the way it did for Nick.

You get why anyone would get discouraged when you interact with so many rude people every day and that’s why it was super impressive that Rosa never backed down. She was ready for every situation. Best character by far. I will say that Nick is the most entertaining character though. The guy gets extremely irritated all the time so he’s constantly muttering and making a fuss about things. The guy has absolutely lost the last bit of patience a long time ago and is the kind of guy who will no do you a favor. Ultimately he does get the Hitchhiker his cup of coffee once the goodwill starts to spread.

Meanwhile it was nice to see everyone start to pitch in later on. The guy who was complaining about his clothes being wrinkled ends up ripping them up so they can be used as rags for the lady giving birth. The lady who was complaining about the noise ends up helping with the delivery, etc. Everyone did their best to play a part and for the ones who were not really sure how they could help, they just did their best to be compassionate and supportive. There was one guy in particular who was a bit older and not exactly sure how this worked but made it clear that he wanted to help so they had him transporting water and then calming down the husband.

In the end everyone appeared to be rude and basically not good people at the start but once someone was actually in a jam they ended up helping out. Nowadays it can be hard to picture that happening in many situations but it is nice to think that people would help you out when the chips were down. For example a lady being pregnant and about to give birth should cause you to want to help. It should trigger your parental instinct as you jump in to attend every need. The Mom is just in such a delicate state that you want to help as much as possible. I knew someone who was pregnant for a while and it was always fun to help her out. I probably overdid it a bit as I tend to but I made sure she was stuffed full of pop tarts, Chipotle, Burger King, chocolates, and whatever other snacks she would suddenly have a craving for! It just feels kind of nice like you’re helping make sure the kids comes out all right but of course that’s taking way too much credit.

That’s the kind of memory the film helps to bring out of you though. Each character here really wanted to do their part and so minor complaints like the noise just weren’t a problem anymore. You quickly start to see the big picture in those moments and it’s important to remember that even when there isn’t something urgent going on. You should always take a step back and just try to make sure you aren’t losing your cool over something minor.

The film is extremely short at less than 30 minutes long so it has to move quickly. I’d say that the film pulls this off perfectly though as the pacing is good and the writing is on point. In a way it’s able to directly tackle the message even easier this way than if it was super long and had to throw a lot of extra plot elements in. Make no mistake, I think this could absolutely work as a long movie as well because when a film’s writing is good, length is not really a factor. So I have a lot of confidence in the team behind this one.

Overall, Star in the Night is a great film. It’s a nice optimistic view on humanity which you don’t see very often and it makes for a very wholesome watch. It works really well as a Christmas film and is more focused on the true meaning of Christmas in spreading goodwill and cheer to all. It’s an allegory for the Three Wisemen in a way with a lot of elements from the Nativity being brought in. I also think this is a great way to explain some concepts to kids and younger viewers watching as it’s all very clear and easy to understand while still being mature enough for older viewers to get something out of it. The production values were all on point and the characters were solid. It may have been short but it’s very memorable.

Overall 8/10

The Greatest Showman

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It’s time to look at a fairly recent film that did quite well for itself. I’m sure many people have heard of the famous Barnum circus for which this film is based off of. When I was a kid I went to a few circus shows, but it didn’t really follow me as I entered my teen years. I sort of just grew out of the circus. It’s certainly impressive with how they are able to perform the acts many times over without an incident but it just isn’t as exciting as a nice arcade or in this case, watching a movie about a circus. The Greatest Showman is a fun film even if the main character adds some unnecessary drama.

So the film starts off with Barnum having a dream where he is the greatest showman on Earth. Everyone loves his shows. Then he wakes up in reality where he is a commoner who works for the rich. Everyone disrespects him and his father dies from all of the pressure. Barnum decides that he will be a great man someday. He gets a nice 9-5 job and ends up marrying his childhood friend Charity. They are low on money, but still have a good life. One day Barnum loses his job so he decides to gamble on the circus. Now he can make his dream a reality. His circus is a very different one as he decides to only hire people with a unique act. A lady with a beard, a guy with tattoos, a guy who is short, the Wolf Man, etc. He gets them all together and the show is a big success. Still, it isn’t enough. Barnum wants to keep getting more and more famous no matter what it ends up costing him!

You can probably already guess how this can get a little dicey. Barnum had literally achieved his dream. The show was amazing and he was rich enough to quickly move into a castle. Then he decides to risk it all by letting the fame get to him. He ditches the people who got him this far to go on a tour with a rich celebrity. He even comes close to having an affair on the side. He manages to avoid making this mistake, but isn’t quick enough to prevent the singer from pulling him into a scandal. It adds some extra drama and suspense to the film, but honestly it wasn’t needed. Perhaps the film would have been a little too happy otherwise I guess, but they could have just kept the whole circus in flames scene and that would have delivered the necessary tension.

So, I can’t say that I liked Barnum. When you achieve your dreams and still aren’t satisfied, then it’s tough to sympathize with a character like that. He learns the error of his ways by the end, but it was awful late for that. They probably should have just restarted without him. A shame since he was a quality character for the first half of the film. His wife Charity was certainly more enjoyable than him. She kept it real throughout the film and never let herself get corrupted. She defied her extravagant lifestyle and risked it all to live the life of a pauper. I can’t picture Barnum making the same decision.

Philip was the other co-star here. He decides to also put aside his rich life to have fun at the circus. He is a fun character but his romance started a little too quickly. He falls for one of the performers almost instantly and even then he can’t stay strong after hearing the super singer Jenny who apparently ensnares everyone while in the act. Philip is a charismatic character, but he needs to have more willpower than that. I can see why Anne was worried about starting anything with him after such a moment and I don’t blame her.

In general I can’t say that the romance here was all that good. Perhaps sticking to just one romance plot instead of having 2 would have helped. The main character one I can understand and it did take years so it’s not like they married out of the blue. Philip’s romance on the other hand just feels tacked on. What happened to keeping up the friend zone while at work? They don’t have time to be getting distracted like this.

As this is a musical there are quite a few songs in here. For the most part they are pretty solid. I think the cicus troup probably can’t sing quite as well as the main characters but they do well enough. The best song in the film is certainly the one in the bar between Barnum and Philip. The bartender there was low key the best character in the film. I like how he always had the drinks ready and would slide up and down the aisle as he followed the dance. He knew that he was going to make a lot of money out of these 2 guys and he was absolutely right. When there is a buck to be made you can’t afford to hesitate. That’s what it means to be a true performer. They should have hired the performer to get an act. I do have to say that if I were Philip I would have certainly turned down the offer though. Losing everything just to get to be in a circus? I dunno, doesn’t really seem like a tempting offer to me.

Overall, The Greatest Showman is definitely a pretty fun film. There is a short period in the film where it starts to get rather somber and dramatic, but for the most part it’s pretty lighthearted. The first half of the film probably does beat the second half, but it’s still a good all around film. It never drags on and the cast is likable for the most part. They all simply lack willpower and the conviction to see their dreams through to the end. Better luck next time in that regard I guess. I’d recommend checking out this film especially if you like musicals but also if you like a good time at the circus.

The Case For Christ

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The Case For Christ is definitely a film where the premise strikes out at you immediately. In 2 of the previous Christian films that I’ve seen (God’s Not Dead 1 and 2) it was about the main character having to prove that God was real. This title flips that around by having the lead try to prove the opposite, that God is fiction. He seeks to do this by overturning the biggest event in Christian history, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Is this feasible or will Lee soon find out that debunking such an event is as futile as trying to suggest that the world is actually flat?

The film starts off with Lee and Leslie heading to a diner to enjoy a nice meal. Unfortunately the situation grows dire when their daughter begins to choke. As despair begins to set in and all hope is lost, a nurse steps in and is able to save their daughter in the nick of time. She is a Christian and Leslie begins to believe that maybe there is a God who is watching over everyone. She goes with the nurse to Church and gets saved. Lee is not happy with this as he is a devout Atheist and tells Leslie that there is no way they can stay together unless she renounces her faith. Leslie refuses and so Lee decides that he will put his reporting profession to use by finding evidence and making a complete case that God doesn’t exist.

Naturally such a journey is doomed for failure. It’s interesting to see the evidence behind the existence of Jesus Christ and how we have hundreds of accounts from individuals who saw him. The mountains of evidence left behind is quite impressive. To Lee’s credit, it does make sense to attack the resurrection if you were trying to debunk the religion since that miracle is really what proved beyond a shadow of a doubt God’s power. There are many other moments in the Bible of miracles as well and even if there wasn’t a mountain of evidence to defend the Resurrection that wouldn’t be enough to rock our faith.

At the end of the day it is impossible to 100% prove or disprove many things. You often have to take a leap of faith and it wouldn’t be worth much if you didn’t need it to proceed. I’m not saying that I would refuse additional proof if it was ever discovered, but I’m fine without it. Everything within the Bible is ultimately all that we need to know. The film fortunately has a happy ending for Lee’s character as he concedes defeat. He was not able to prove that God didn’t exist and furthermore, he only just ended up convincing himself of the opposite. It was a good way to close his character arc.

That being said, I wasn’t a fan of the character. He definitely did not take the situation in stride and came across as completely unreasonable. He’s been married to Leslie for several years at this point, enough to have a daughter who is old enough to talk and everything. Yet, he almost immediately wants to end the marriage because she has become a Christian. I can understand not wanting to accept this and to continue debating it, but not wanting to leave immediately. It’s not like the person suddenly became a Satanist or anything like that. He also doesn’t have any sympathy for criminals and even puts an innocent man in jail because he couldn’t be bothered to look at the facts of the case more closely. That same guy then gets stabbed and nearly fatally injured. Lee is sad about that, but the guy just created so many problems during the film.

Leslie was a good character. She wasn’t too forceful about turning Lee into a Christian right away which was good. It makes sense that she would understand the situation and try to be tactful about the whole thing. Naturally she wouldn’t give up on converting him and that’s good because as a Christian you understand the stakes better than anyone. If she can’t convert Lee in time, he’ll end up burning in Hell for eternity. Of course you don’t want someone you’re close with to experience such a fate. Since the stakes are that high, she has to try playing 4D Chess and trying to slowly get him to her side. At times maybe she wasn’t perfect with her approach, but at least she kept on trying.

I also liked the characters that Lee went to for advice. They all had an extremely confident air about them. Their smirks basically never left and while they weren’t downright condescending to Lee, they certainly seemed to think that he was asking extremely basic questions. Of course they likely weren’t in the best mood since he clearly was asking them questions to get them to take a shot at their religion so they were guarded. I just always like these kind of characters. You know that they’re not going to be on the defensive during the verbal exchange and have all of the answers.

Overall, The Case For Christ is a pretty fun film. The writing is solid and the pacing for The Case for Christ is on point as well. I haven’t seen any debates in a while, but I always like seeing debaters challenge the two sides. I’m certainly not impartial as I’m a Christian, but all the more reasons to better understand the points that the opposition makes so I can know how best to respond. If you liked God’s Not Dead then I believe you’ll like this film. The main character is definitely annoying, but the rest of the case is solid. His coworkers are all pretty fun characters and the Nurse who saved the kid at the beginning isn’t bad. Maybe a little ineffective the whole time, but saving the kid is really all she needs on her resume. I’ll definitely be interested to see which film this company churns out next.