Believe Me is a movie difficult to categorize. On one hand it appears to be a faith based film while on the other it seems to be a satire of the Christian community. Straddling both genres makes it ineffective in both. Christians who go to see it will be put off by the trivialization of their faith and those searching for the satirical elements will find it has too much Christian dogma for their taste.
The plot concerns four fraternity brothers who find themselves short of cash. Sam (Alex Russell) comes up with a "get rich quick" scheme. The four of them will create a charity to help dig wells in Africa. Then as the contributions come pouring in they will skim some of the money off the top and split it amongst themselves. The scheme gets even better when they are contacted by Ken (Christopher McDonald), a man with a high powered charity fund raising group who wants to bring them into his fold.
The four men become known as "the God Squad" and tour the country under Ken's auspices. As the money pours in they take a little out of the pot before they give the final figures to Ken. One problem arises and that is a singer named Gabriel (Zachary Knighton). He has been Ken's star before the arrival of "the God Squad" and he is now eaten up by jealousy.
The movie quotes a lot of scripture and, to its credit, doesn't make all the Christians act like imbeciles. The impostors in "the God Squad" come off as being the bad guys. Still having a basically faith based film contain characters who use a good bit of profanity alienates their core audience. This is particularly true because all four members of the "squad" -- Sam, Baker (Max Adler), Tyler (Sinqua Walls) and Pierce (Miles Fisher) -- are totally likable.
There are also parts of the script that just don't make sense. The changing position of some of the lead characters doesn't ring true. Their motivations are cloudy and seem to occur just for the purpose of getting the plot where it needs to go.
The film is rated PG-13 for profanity.
Overall the acting is competent to good with Russell and Knighton being the strongest. Glee fans will recognize Adler from his role on that show as the closeted gay bully. Nick Offerman is listed in the cast but don't expect to see much of him in the film. His role is one scene and he is out.
The movie will hold your interest as you wait to see the impostor Christians get their comeuppance. But with a bit of editing and some clarification in the script the movie could have been much better.
I scored Believe Me a lying 5 out of 10.
Jackie K Cooper
www.jackiekcooper.com
The plot concerns four fraternity brothers who find themselves short of cash. Sam (Alex Russell) comes up with a "get rich quick" scheme. The four of them will create a charity to help dig wells in Africa. Then as the contributions come pouring in they will skim some of the money off the top and split it amongst themselves. The scheme gets even better when they are contacted by Ken (Christopher McDonald), a man with a high powered charity fund raising group who wants to bring them into his fold.
The four men become known as "the God Squad" and tour the country under Ken's auspices. As the money pours in they take a little out of the pot before they give the final figures to Ken. One problem arises and that is a singer named Gabriel (Zachary Knighton). He has been Ken's star before the arrival of "the God Squad" and he is now eaten up by jealousy.
The movie quotes a lot of scripture and, to its credit, doesn't make all the Christians act like imbeciles. The impostors in "the God Squad" come off as being the bad guys. Still having a basically faith based film contain characters who use a good bit of profanity alienates their core audience. This is particularly true because all four members of the "squad" -- Sam, Baker (Max Adler), Tyler (Sinqua Walls) and Pierce (Miles Fisher) -- are totally likable.
There are also parts of the script that just don't make sense. The changing position of some of the lead characters doesn't ring true. Their motivations are cloudy and seem to occur just for the purpose of getting the plot where it needs to go.
The film is rated PG-13 for profanity.
Overall the acting is competent to good with Russell and Knighton being the strongest. Glee fans will recognize Adler from his role on that show as the closeted gay bully. Nick Offerman is listed in the cast but don't expect to see much of him in the film. His role is one scene and he is out.
The movie will hold your interest as you wait to see the impostor Christians get their comeuppance. But with a bit of editing and some clarification in the script the movie could have been much better.
I scored Believe Me a lying 5 out of 10.
Jackie K Cooper
www.jackiekcooper.com