Unusual Films thinks it has finally warmed audiences to the idea that right-wing, ultra conservative Baptist-style Christianity looks good on the big screen. Boy are they wrong. It has never looked more ludicrous.
Hold on to your pants, folks, because this is legalism at its finest! Summary of story: Circa 1920's, a boy wants to join a nearby baseball team, but his mother is worried that he'll get sucked into the alcohol/party lifestyle of that era (the Prohibition is in full swing). Shortly after the boy joins the baseball team, he meets some new friends and "succumbs" to drinking alcohol to fit in. Tsk tsk!
What follows is pure propaganda. The film shows the main protagonist becoming a raging alcoholic in a matter of days (I kid you not). He's even to the point of tipping back bottles, trying to extract every last drop of vodka/whiskey after just a few days of being exposed to alcohol.
Ironically, the film's director forgets to portray the rest of the alcohol-drinking team in the same negative light. For example, when our protagonist steps up to bat, he is stumbling and passing out from the drinking he did the night before, but when his slushed teammates get to the plate, they do just fine. Oops! Why do these ultra-fundamentalists argue that drinking will automatically ruin a Christian's life, even though it's PLAINLY CLEAR that most of the world drinks and lives to see another day! (just like the "evil" baseball team in this movie)
But there's no arguing here, whatever your rationale might be. Ready or not, this film actually ANTICIPATES your reaction to this nonsense and has a wadful of Bible verses ready to defend its narrowly-interpreted take on tee-totalism. "Can a Christian drink alcohol?" one of the young characters asks a man. Enter: mini-sermon on why taking even a sip of moonshine will ruin your life for good. Plus, you're just being selfish whenever you drink, the movie argues. You're not thinking about "bringing glory to God," preaches one of the characters. If you find this shallow type of reasoning persuasive, then it's your lucky day!--the movie is packed with it. Turn off your brain, open your Bible, and gulp down every word of the preacher!
Now here's something rather odd that I should mention as well. If you've had the privilege of talking to any of the graduates or anyone closely connected to this school, you'll find out that a negative review such as this one is EXACTLY the kind of criticism this university relishes. They would be "ashamed" to receive a high rating from a "secular" movie site that clearly doesn't understand the holy truths they're expounding. "Unusual" Films actually prides itself in being different, peculiar, or even offensive to those outside fundamentalist circles.
Pop it in for a laugh, if you must, but don't expect any serious entertainment/worthwhile instruction, even if you're a smarter, more perceptive Christian than the dufuses that produced this movie. Stay away from this junk.
Hold on to your pants, folks, because this is legalism at its finest! Summary of story: Circa 1920's, a boy wants to join a nearby baseball team, but his mother is worried that he'll get sucked into the alcohol/party lifestyle of that era (the Prohibition is in full swing). Shortly after the boy joins the baseball team, he meets some new friends and "succumbs" to drinking alcohol to fit in. Tsk tsk!
What follows is pure propaganda. The film shows the main protagonist becoming a raging alcoholic in a matter of days (I kid you not). He's even to the point of tipping back bottles, trying to extract every last drop of vodka/whiskey after just a few days of being exposed to alcohol.
Ironically, the film's director forgets to portray the rest of the alcohol-drinking team in the same negative light. For example, when our protagonist steps up to bat, he is stumbling and passing out from the drinking he did the night before, but when his slushed teammates get to the plate, they do just fine. Oops! Why do these ultra-fundamentalists argue that drinking will automatically ruin a Christian's life, even though it's PLAINLY CLEAR that most of the world drinks and lives to see another day! (just like the "evil" baseball team in this movie)
But there's no arguing here, whatever your rationale might be. Ready or not, this film actually ANTICIPATES your reaction to this nonsense and has a wadful of Bible verses ready to defend its narrowly-interpreted take on tee-totalism. "Can a Christian drink alcohol?" one of the young characters asks a man. Enter: mini-sermon on why taking even a sip of moonshine will ruin your life for good. Plus, you're just being selfish whenever you drink, the movie argues. You're not thinking about "bringing glory to God," preaches one of the characters. If you find this shallow type of reasoning persuasive, then it's your lucky day!--the movie is packed with it. Turn off your brain, open your Bible, and gulp down every word of the preacher!
Now here's something rather odd that I should mention as well. If you've had the privilege of talking to any of the graduates or anyone closely connected to this school, you'll find out that a negative review such as this one is EXACTLY the kind of criticism this university relishes. They would be "ashamed" to receive a high rating from a "secular" movie site that clearly doesn't understand the holy truths they're expounding. "Unusual" Films actually prides itself in being different, peculiar, or even offensive to those outside fundamentalist circles.
Pop it in for a laugh, if you must, but don't expect any serious entertainment/worthwhile instruction, even if you're a smarter, more perceptive Christian than the dufuses that produced this movie. Stay away from this junk.
