Three stars. Rated PG, for no particular reason
By Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 3.13.20
Faith-based films defy conventional commentary.
They’re a breed apart, with but one goal in mind: targeted specifically to the reverential fans who pack Christian music concerts by the thousands, their eyes closed during each song, one arm raised, palm open, toward heaven.
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| Why attend classes, when you can sit on the quad and make music? Despite herself, Melissa (Britt Robertson) can't help being attracted to the relentlessly cheerful Jeremy (K.J. Apa) and the songs that flow effortlessly from his fingers. |
Discussing such films in the usual manner can’t help feeling mean-spirited … but when one wanders into the mainstream market, that certainly makes it fair game.
I Still Believe is based on powerhouse Christian musician Jeremy Camp’s 2003 memoir of the same title — written when he was but 25 — and this film clearly takes a deferential approach to his story. Those familiar with Camp’s career won’t be surprised by any of the major events that occurred during his early 20s; uninitiated — but savvy — mainstream moviegoers likely will anticipate the significance of this film’s title.
Scripters Jon Erwin and Jon Gunn set this saga in a world of perfect harmony, where people never get angry or argue with each other; where everybody calmly expects and accepts the inevitability of destiny; and where almost everybody is white. Even in Southern California. (Which, it must be said, is ridiculous.)
We meet Jeremy (played with sincerity by New Zealand’s K.J. Apa, currently hot as Archie Andrews on TV’s Riverdale) as he’s about to leave his Indiana home to attend Calvary Chapel Bible College, in Murrieta. Money is tight, but Jeremy’s parents — Tom (Gary Sinise) and Teri (Shania Twain) — nonetheless send him off with a gorgeous new guitar.
Freshly arrived at college, Jeremy has no trouble evading security to get backstage at a concert by Christian rock/worship band The Kry, where he impulsively chats up lead singer Jean-Luc LaJoie (Nathan Dean); he immediately takes a shine to this brash young fellow, and allows him to be part of the off-stage crew.
(Hey, it could have happened that way. Right?)
During the concert, Jeremy locks eyes with an adoring fan — Melissa Henning (Britt Robertson, at 30 a bit long in the tooth for this role) — and boom, that’s it. When they subsequently flirt, and she gently rebuffs his eager overtures, he pulls out the ultimate response: “What if God wants us to be together?”
In the real world, that line would earn a scornful glance and quick departure. (It certainly garnered an “Oh, brother” from viewers during Tuesday evening’s preview screening.)
