 |
| The "father" in Faith of our Fathers |
A Review of Faith of Our Fathers by Nick Olszyk
MPAA Rating, PG-13
USCCB Rating, NR
Reel Rating, Two Reels
It’s
really a shame to make this comparison,
but Faith of Our Fathers is similar
to Inside Out in sharing two parallel
stories that intertwine to inform a central theme. Here, the first story
involves two war buddies in 1969 Vietnam and the second a road trip of
discovery between their adult children. Unlike the incredible Inside Out, however, Faith suffers from innumerous problems,
especially atrocious dialogue and mostly poor acting. There is something there but
only the most committed Pure Flix fans will find much of value.
John
Paul (named for the Beatles, not the Pope) is an average evangelical Christian
living a settled and predictable life in California. While rummaging through
some old boxes, he comes across a letter from his father Steven to his
previously unknown best friend Eddie. Steven died in Vietnam when John was only
a baby so any information is vital, sending him on a cross country journey to
find this elusive friend. Instead, he discovers Eddie’s son Wayne, a dirty,
annoying unbeliever who possess several letters from Steven to John but makes
him pay $500 a pop to read them, which is not only incredibly jerkish but
probably illegal since they are addressed to John in the first place. Together,
this odd couple drive to the Vietnam War Memorial in DC to learn more about
their fathers, encountering bumps both physical and spiritual along the way.
The story of
their fathers is told in flashbacks. They mirror their children in that Steven
is a skittish rookie constantly flipping through his pocket Bible while Eddie
is a hard and seasoned warrior who can’t be bothered with faith. However, they
come to an understanding, especially through the shared experience of leaving
new wives and young children to fight for Uncle Sam halfway across the world.
John and Wayne’s
story is pretty dull except for brief flashes of humor that comes from their
clash of personalities. Eventually, they meet an officer who knew both fathers
and can shed some light. When the inevitable speech about faith comes, it is
both preachy and boring, mostly due to its terrible delivery by Stephen Balwin,
who never shows any inflection in emotion the whole film. Stephen and Eddie’s
story is much better, developing the characters well and bringing their
narratives to a devastating conclusion. Their final scene, which involves a
memorable reference to the Good Thief, is the only moment that reaches the
brilliance of the studio’s greatest triumph God’s
Not Dead. While Balwin preaches in words, Stephen and Eddie demonstrate the
gospel through action, and it is infinitely more compelling.
Faith of Our Fathers suffers from the ever
present thorn in the side of independent Christian films: poor artistic
quality, which is a nice way of saying…it’s pretty bad. The main culprit is the
insufferable dialogue. A perfect example is Si Robertson’s cameo. Instead of
letting Si do what Si does best, namely adlib to the camera, they force him to
read a script of lines that mimic his style but are clearly constructed.
Another frequent mistake is poor scenery. Protestant John prominently shows an
Orthodox icon in his house. As the Vietnam soldiers march through the jungle,
every scene looks oddly similar to the next and the fog is so thick it looks
like an Ed Wood horror film rather than a South Asian swamp. Then there’s
Stephen Baldwin, given top billing despite a supporting role, who stops the action
short every time he’s on screen.
There’s a nice
little story hidden deep within this mediocre movie but it’s covered with more
cheese than those stuffed crust monstrosities from Pizza Hut. More than once, I
wished I had a remote control so I could see a better film. It also contains a
glimmer of traditional patriotism and respect for those who lost their lives
for our freedoms, but it’s sidelined for the evangelical message. Faith of Our Fathers isn’t great, but
since the 4th of July alternatives are Terminator 5, Magic Mike 2,
or a documentary on Amy Winehouse you could do worse.
This article first appeared in Catholic World Report on July 3rd, 2015.
This article first appeared in Catholic World Report on July 3rd, 2015.
Comments
Post a Comment