I thought this was a fantastic movie. I waited so long to see it and was afraid I would be disappointed. I wasn't.
The story is of Josh Wheaton (played by Shane Harper). He is a college freshman who seems to have it all. He has a girlfriend of six years and a promising career with his major in pre-law. He needs one philosophy course to fulfill a requirement, and that class is with Professor Radisson (played by Kevin Sorbo). Radisson is a passionate atheist, so much so that he requires all his students to write "God Is Dead" on a piece of paper or defend the existence of a God. Josh, who is a Christian, cannot write "God Is Dead". This not only brings about Radisson's anger, but makes this generally quiet young man take a stand for this faith. His girlfriend is dead set against this, and she dumps him over this. Josh, however, dives deeper into defending the existence of God.
We have some other subplots that tie into this. There is Ayisha (Hadeel Situ), a Muslim girl who covers up her face to please her father, but whom we discover is actually a Christian convert. Once her father finds out, he promptly (though not without some remorse) throws her out of the house. There is Martin Yip (Paul Kwo), another of Radisson's students, who is from a well-connected Chinese family and finds Josh's defense of a god (let alone God made Flesh in Christ Jesus) fascinating. There is Amy Ryan (Tricia LaFache), a humanist reporter who holds believers in contempt. Of particular disdain is Willie and Korie Robertson of Duck Dynasty fame, whom she ambushes as they are about to attend Worship Services.
Their lives all interconnect in various ways. Amy's boyfriend, Mark (Dean Cain) dumps her when he finds out she has cancer. Mark's mother is suffering from dementia, and he'd rather not deal with anything connected to human emotion. His sister Mina (Cory Oliver) happens to be Radisson's girlfriend and a Christian too (much to Radisson's displeasure). Both Josh and Mina have as their pastor one Pastor Dave (David A.R. White), who keeps trying to get away for a holiday with his missionary friend but every vehicle he encounters keeps stalling on him.
Divine intervention, perhaps?
In any case, Josh is able to successfully argue his case, we learn where Radisson's hatred towards God comes from, Martin comes to accept Christ, Mina learns that the love of Christ is enough to validate her and leaves Radisson, Amy comes to terms to both her cancer and her own anger at God, culminating in a Newsboys concert where all these stories come together.
So that's it in a nutshell. I ended up crying through the last third of the movie. It has a surprise (to me) ending.
Please watch it if you can. You won't regret it. If you already have watched it, what did you think?
Kathy
We watched it a few weeks ago. Rented the dvd. When I returned it, I bought a dvd of it. We liked it alot. There was alot of information in the movie that Josh presented that was true, evidence he presented in class. We, as Christians, need to know what we are up against when people say there is no god. It was sad to see a young teenage couple part because girlfriend didn't stand by her boyfriend's belief in God. She was more concerned about herself and their relationship than her relationship with God. She didn't understand that it's important to stand up for your belief in God. I would watch it again and share it with other people. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteHaven't seen it yet but really want to. I am interested in the evidence & (according to your review) the
ReplyDeletevarious characters reaction to it. looking forward to it.
Excellent review! You've made me want to see it!
ReplyDeleteOh, yea... I want to see this movie, for sure!
ReplyDeleteThank you for doing a review.
I was planning on see it but now that I have read your review, I AM going to see it.