Review of Blue Like Jazz The Movie

Reviewing Blue Like Jazz The Movie

-Summary
- Cast
- Message
- Content
- Overall

“is this gonna get weird ?”      “yeah….probably.”

So Blue Like Jazz originally was a book of essays written by/about the life of a 30ish man who was feeling distant to the concept of mainstream Christianity, and so he left the conservative surroundings he had long been immersed in and began getting involved in the Portland scene, and auditing classes at “Reed College,” which had been labeled as “The most God-less campus in America.” Through his essays we see the gradual process of how he came to find that he couldn’t escape God, even at Reed, and how he eventually was set back on the path of faith.

A movie about a 30ish guy hanging around a college campus being existential doesn’t exactly sell tickets, or make for good cinema, so the author of the book, the director, and the cinematographer got together and remade the story into something that they saw as entertaining and meaningful. (if you are interested in how all this went down, pick up Donald Miller’s ‘A Million Miles In A Thousand Years’). I was privileged to have seen 2 advance screening of the film, once with the director, once with the author, and hear their vision, as well as see the film, so here we go.

Summary-

Don ( 19 )is your typical Southern Baptist kid, heavily involved in church, assistant to the youth pastor, etc. His mom and dad are divorced, his mom the typical church mom, his dad is a very liberal “artist.” Don has every intention of following his mother’s lead and going to bible college, despite his dad’s pressing to go to Reed, that is until Don is betrayed by his church. It honestly could have happened in any church, but it happened to Don. He runs from his mother, his church, his friends, and  on a larger scale, God and Christianity.  So in an act of rage, rebellion, and anguish he rejects the concept of Bible college and goes to Reed. Immediately upon arrival it is made clear to him that he can in no way present himself as a Christian. So he makes a great effort to hide his faith, but as he continues he doesn’t just hide faith, he goes on the offensive, finding that the only way he truly fits in is by attacking faith. The conflict in this comes that the one true friend he makes (Penny) is in the opposite place, she came to Reed, found Christ after reading the Bible in literature class, and with struggling with being open about her faith in such a hostile environment. As Don grows in his running and rebellion It only becomes more evident to him that God is pursuing Him.

Cast-

The Cast is full of people you might recognize, Donald Miller’s character is best known for his role on the HBO series “True Blood” as the shape shifting brother of Sam Merlot.  Lauryn I remember best as Ruso’s daughter on Lost, Penny was in The Vampire Diaries, Mean Girls 2, etc. The Pope was in The Final Destination, the crazies, etc. My favorite surprise is that the guy who portrays the youth pastor is the voice of “Max” in “A Goofy Movie” On a side note out of the entire cast of main characters the only believers in the film were Don, and The Russian. All of the cast gives an amazing performance, the pope and penny truly steal the show. The only character that I felt really could have been a little better or more convincing is the actress who plays Don’s mom. Overall I was well immersed, I never felt like I was watching something with poor acting. If you watch Christian movies on the regular you've come to have the moment where you say “yeah I know the acting was terrible, but the message was great” , that’s not gonna happen in this.

Message-

The overall theme of the film is that of a teenage Jonah, or Simon Peter. That you can try to run from God, but you will have to come to a point where you realize that He’s always there, pursuing you. That no matter how much you deny, rebel, ignore, or run, it doesn’t change where God stands in his pursuit of you. It also make the point that we all belong somewhere, that it’s when you are running it’s hard to see where you belong, but when you stop long enough, you can embrace and be embraced.  It also drives home the point that the best way someone else can learn to love something, is by watching us love it first.

Content-

Here’s where this will get interesting. This movie is not fireproof. This is not courageous. This isn’t your typical bubble gum and sunshine Christian film. Before the screenings Steve Taylor, the director, gave a disclaimer. They wanted to make the most accurate most honest story they could, and they felt like for the movie to be effective the content would have to be truthful. So if you are telling the story of a 19 year old boy running from God, to the most God-less campus in America, you aren’t going to get fireproof. Steve says the film is rated pg-13 and it earns it’s pg-13 rating. There’s drinking, drug use, profanity, vulgarity etc. So honestly the first time I’m in a film produced by Christians and I hear profanity it caught me off guard, but I understand the use. I can barely make it through a youth group trip without hearing more profanity than I heard in the movie. Does this make it acceptable or ok to justify it’s use? No, but if we were to have an authentic story of our lives told I’m pretty sure we’d be lucky to scrape by with an r rating. If they actually made accurate portrayals of half the bible it would be nc-17 bare minimum. So take that in mind. As the director states “We decided to take a biblical approach to our story telling. For that reason, the film is not really family-friendly. If you’ve read the Bible lately, you’ll know what we mean by that. The idea that 'faith-based' and 'family-friendly' are the same is absurd.” So I believe in the film, but I’m probably not gonna take my youth group, but with the proper disclaimer I’m gonna take my college ministry, and recommend it. It’s also comforting that  “Thomas Nelson” publishing (the same people that publish the bible) are publishing bible study materials to accompany the movie.

Overall-

My name is on the credits of this thing as an Associate Producer, so I have to generally want this movie to be great. After seeing it twice, speaking with the director, and with the author I think I can say with an unbiased opinion  that it really is a great movie. The profanity honestly made me uncomfortable, but I’m pretty sure it’s only because it was a faith based film. There’s a ton more profanity in Batman Begins, but I rarely ever notice that. Honestly I feel like we’re all running at some point and I think that is something that will resonate with people. The whole movie was really a good adaptation, it included some really brilliant moments, like when don denies Christ in class, the next morning his alarm clock is a rooster and crows 3 times before he wakes up. Little things like that or the scary accuracy of the depiction of  a lock-in. The finale of the movie “the confession booth” scene makes the whole thing worth it. I walked away feeling like I’d actually been on a journey. Like I was along  side someone watching as God moved in their life. I don’t know how many times I’ve honestly felt like running, like just going to do something other than church work, when the perspective of the rest of the world weighs down on me, when I’m embarrassed by other’s that carry the name of Christ. By the end of the film I felt like I knew their were people who could empathize. I think this will be an amazing film for people who aren’t believers to open up a dialogue about faith. One atheist at the screening at sxsm tweeted “#bluelikejazz is a pretty solid Christian film. Certainly worth an atheist's time. #SXSWFilm” I think there really is something good to come of this. I think most opposition to the film will come from the church itself, I hope not though.  I hope that people will be informed, and go into with the right mindset. When this film drops on April 13^th, I’m pretty sure you’re going to be hearing about it for a while. So here’s my two cents.