2fresh 2clean
It was better than I thought. Whenever I want to watch a movie I always check with IMDb before I watch it because 98% of the time they are right. In this case they were wrong. IMDb gave this movie 4.6 out of 10 stars. I gave it 7 stars. As a Christian I thought the message in this movie was very powerful, for anyone. If you're a person who cries at tear jerker movies, this one just might make you cry. I recommend this movie to everyone. The acting in this movie, except for Louis Gossett Jr, was kind of amateur, but that didn't hurt this film. This would definitely be a good movie for the whole family to sit around and see on a nice quiet evening. This movie is a must see. Now it's rare that my wife and I agree on what's a good movie and what isn't a good movie, but we both agreed that this one was good.
dogbardave
(Some comments may be considered a "spoiler.") I watch a lot of movies, mainly videos, and after watching this intense drama, I uttered, "This is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time." AND, I've also seen a number of Christian videos, and this, by far exceeds everything I've seen (FYI: The worst by far (plot, acting, and for editing) is the movie "I Am.") I think the challenge for Christian videos is to deal with the expected conversion scenes, which when seen by the public, can seem a bit embarrassing and appear "cheesy" because it is expected (yet still an outreach goal), the message is well known, and it is very personal. In reality, when people do come to Christ, it's often emotional and "the way" is known, and most of the drama in the whole thing is internal, not the dialogue that people might overhear. Obviously, it's imperative and great for the soul, but for movie making, it might not rate real high because it is so well known.Acting: I was really impressed with the acting of M&M Mac. Clearly, the pain in the family was intense, and it was very honest in portraying how a father's own "demons" can damage and eventually destroy his whole family. (I suppose the same can be said for mom's who have demons.) I think these two actors carried the movie. Sam's character was not as dramatic overall, but the actor had some great acting moments as well. The contrast between visceral pain and "happy pastor" was clear. Perhaps, it's just plain easier to act in pain, than jovial. I dunno...am not an actor. STILL, I thought Sam's character was very well acted, for most movies, and certainly for this film. Sam's wife, was a bit of a flat character (as written), but she acted well and her character acted as an anchor. It's interesting to contrast her role and Mrs. Macs' role. Both were anchors for their families, but with different successes, given the whole environment they lived in. The "conversion scene was well done" and it seemed realistic. The part where the former criminal offender came into the Church (and maybe an earlier scene) were a bit awkward. I'm sure if that happened in real life, it WOULD be awkward...to say the least. But the ending scene with Mac & the grace card was particularly well acted...excellent non dialogue acting.Technical: I think when a drama is done right, you don't notice anything. When it fails, or when it excels, you notice things. I liked the flashback and water in the beginning. Thought: Was there water later in the story similar to the beginning...i.e, sprinkling?? It might be interesting to consider the role of water in this script as it has obvious symbolism in the Bible and in literature. I think the lighting was well done...oppressive and brooding at the Mac's home and bright and cheery...i.e, normal in the Wright's home. The rest seemed just fine and appropriate to this untrained eye. It was great marketing to have Louis Gossett Jr. here, even in a minor role, and he did well providing the back story for the Sam Wright.Plot/Message: Wow. High score to address "head on" racial conflict (mainly) between Blacks / Whites. It was clear that this was not a movie targeted only for the Black or for the White demographic. It certainly seemed that this movie was targeted at both Christian Blacks and Whites, or at least to those same demographics who were familiar with Christianity. While it likely has a deep historical dimension for the SE USA, it also played well outside that region. I thought it was a honest and sensitive approach to this vast and sensitive topic.It looked at this scenario from a Black Church model, and it was interesting to see that side. (It seems Hollywood loves to slam White Christian church models, so THAT gets very old...and it's politically correct and biased. Talk about predictable.) I think this movie does well to show us that while we all seek comfort socially and spiritually, real growth in God comes through "teachers" God plants in front of our faces on a daily basis. I thought the struggles that Sam had were honest and real. It's easy to "play church," but "You (God)desire truth in the innermost being" (Ps.51:6). How do you love someone who hates you w/o cause...just because they don't like your skin color (or the way you look, or dress, or talk, or your house, or your kids, or where you live, or...?). I think this is the power in this movie. You can take it on face value as a Black man trying God's grace to forgive and love a White man with Christ's love, or you can take it a step further that we all have people we hate/dislike/disapprove/look down on, and God demands that we love them, with His love, as His love is blind. My family of 4 were all tearing up at different points in this movie. Very powerful "deep magic."Music: I like Third Day, but when their song came on, it seemed a bit out of sync for the scene, but that may be just me. Toby Mac and Tenth Avenue's contributions were "picture perfect." (All three groups are great performers! Summary: We were all moved by this video, and will likely purchase it. This is an honest look at what it takes to walk in Christ with an honest heart. I think it's a peek at heaven when we do right.
tavm
Because there was only one showing in the afternoon, having had several last week when I was a bit busy during that time, me and my movie theatre-working friend chose to watch it then when we both had this day off. While my friend was crying throughout, I managed to start to be touched when that wife of that cop slapped him because of his accidental shooting of their teenage son but I'm getting ahead of myself here. This Christian-themed movie about the dealings of long-ago tragedy, some racism, and the idea of forgiveness despite some people that caused those tragedies was for the most part well made even though I managed to predict what would happen before they did. Still, this was quite touching and made pertinent points about how hard some feelings are to let go. One other thing I'd like to mention is that Oscar-winner Louis Gossett, Jr.-in his brief role-still can steal a scene even during his quietest moments like here. So on that note, The Grace Card was pretty good as a message drama.
kbaby3148
I feel that some people are rating this movie too highly. And everyone is entitled to their opinions, as I am to mine. The movie, to me, was not that good of a movie, maybe it will be able to reach out more to older viewers, but I am 21 and absolutely did not like this movie. I am a Christian as well, and all Christian movies are not bad. In fact the King and I is one of my favorite movies. I could watch that over and over again, and that is almost a three hour movie if not longer. The Grace Card is a movie that I could not make it through. I gave it an hour, and due to lack of interest went to sleep. I hadn't heard of the movie until we went to the theater Saturday, and the bad thing is there were only two people in the theater at the time we went and maybe ten people at the early time. The entire movie is predictable, not going to say what happened for those who want to see it. I didn't see the trailer before the movie, but watching it after the movie I could tell the acting would be bad. Don't get me wrong, the trailer is pretty good, and would give one the thought to see the movie. Maybe One day I will be able to watch the entire movie or at least finish out the thirty minutes I went to sleep on. All in all, I would not recommend the movie. I asked the girl I went with how she liked it, and she said it was good because of the end of the movie, which again was predictable. But just think, if the end of the movie didn't end in the way it did, would it still be a good movie? I'm going to give the movie a 3. I would give it a 3.5, but they don't have that rating. I felt Grace Card was stereotypical and in some parts contradictory to Christian beliefs as well as police (who are not wearing their seat-belts in the movie). I like Christina movies but this movie was just not interesting to me. I hope this does not pursue anyone to change their minds about seeing the movie and I hope those of you that go to see it enjoy it more than I did. And if you plan to see it, you may want to do so soon, I don't believe it's going to be in theaters long.
