MYST Post #2: Believe Me

In somewhat of a time crunch to get these posts completed, I sat down the other night to watch a movie. I logged onto amazon instant video to see what I could find. I had no particular genre in mind that I wanted to watch. I checked out the "recently added" list and came across a drama/comedy movie called Believe Me (2014). I watched the trailer and decided it looked good enough. 

The movie chronicles four college students who take on fake roles a missionary workers, working for their non-profit company to help get fresh water to kids in Africa called "Get Well Soon." To break the story down a little bit, Sam, the leader if you will, finds out that with only one semester left of college, his scholarship has expired, and he now has to come up with $9000 that he doesn't have. He soon gets the idea to poise as Christ-driven guy who just wants to help people in Africa. With a few parameters, he enlists the helps of his three other friends. They soon meet a guy who is the leader of ministry that travels around the country spreading the word of Jesus. He enlists the helps of the four guys that come to be known as the "God Squad", and with them they do 28 shows across the country over the coarse of three or so months.

This movie exceeded my expectations. I thought it was going to be pretty stupid, and the comedy would be cheesy and not funny. However, there were multiple occasions I laughed pretty hard. There are some comedy films I have seen  that I would prefer over this one, but it didn't disappoint me.  I feel that a major component of this movie was making fun of Christians and religion. Although I am religious myself, I found it pretty funny and didn't take it too seriously. I definitely think there are some people who would not be able to take it very lightly and would be offended.

The main actor is Alex Russell. I was not familiar with him previous to seeing this movie, but he has been in some bigger films including Carrie (2014) and Unbroken (2014). I thought he gave a good and convincing performance. If I attended the meetings he talked at in the movie, I think I would be convinced. The friends in the movie are played by Miles Fischer, Max Adler, and Sinqua Wills. I have never seen Fischer in anything, and there was nothing that he has been in that I'm familiar with. He did give a good performance as the friend that is just focused on his cut of the profits. Adler I had seen in a few episodes of Glee that I watched, but that was awhile ago so again his acting I was not all too familiar with. He played the, for lack of a better term, stupid friend. For the part, he did a good job. I mean, it's not too hard to mess that part up. Wills I was a little more familiar with. He was in a show that I used to watch, however this role was very different. In this movie, he played the more logical, let's-do-the-right-thing friend. Like Russell, he gave a good, convincing performance. One actor that I want to mention that appeared in this film was Nick Offerman. I knew him from Parks and Rec, and I thought he was very funny in that. I have also seen him in We're the Millers, and again he was good and that, kind of creepy, but good. In this film, he plays a drunken administrator at the college that the boys attend, and for his five minutes he was in it, he did a nice job.

One thing that I noticed was the when the title was on the screen. It came in big, bold white letter and as it faded, the "lie" in believe stayed around for a few seconds. Also Sam, the main character, tells a story twice about a lie professors tell their students on the first day. His point to this story is that people need to be lied to in order to instill hope. Right from the beginning, lying is emphasized and sets the stage for what the movie is going to be about. A cinematic element in this film is the lighting. When Sam is on stage at the events talking about God and his charity, the way his face/ body is lit, gives him a look of honesty and goodness.

Being on tour with Christians and being surrounded by Christians all the time, the guys knew they had to blend in. They came up with a plan that each day they would all do research and come together at night and teach each other what they learned about how Christians behave and what they typically do. One scene that was particularly funny was when Sam was teaching the other guys about worship and prayer. He talks through some worship "stances" and some key words that Christians use in their prayers. Please, watch for yourself.

For a rating of this movie, I give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars. While the comedy was good, there were still a few flaws, for me, that I didn't like. For example, when the people started finding out about the guys plan (there should be no surprise here) I didn't like how the story unfolded after that. Because of this, the ending was also a little weird.