Graham Alexander's The Sound of a
Dirt Road: Film Review

Twenty year old producer/director/writer Graham Alexander does something that no other filmmakers in San Antonio managed to do – something astounding. Graham Alexander was nominated as a feature film finalist at the festival, having completed his film on a budget of $900.00 in eighteen production days. Truly amazing.

The film itself is a tale of love and conflict. The protagonist, John Crowe (Ross Renfroe), is a humble and hard-working rural farmer who is the last in a long legacy of Crowe family men. The antagonist in the film is an erroneously-driven pastor named Jeremiah Stillwell (Graham Alexander) who is seeking the pastorate at John’s church.

Lead actor Ross Renfroe, who plays
the part of John, records on set

John lives and works diligently on a huge plot of land that has been owned by his family for nearly two centuries. He attended seminary but dropped out due to a family emergency and the need to take care of the Crowe family land. When he is not working, John is resting in the Word of God or attending his church. He was raised in this godly manner by his grandfather (Dr. Dick Knar), who mentored young John until the time of his death.

Another family of believers, the Sower family, arrives in town and settles in. Their young, single, and attractive daughter Ellen (Jenny Hamilton) becomes the interest of both John and Jeremiah. Conflict ensues as Jeremiah attempts, in not too subtle ways, to dissuade John from pursuing Ellen.

Ellen, however, has her eyes on John, and soon enough Ellen and John are married, much to the dismay of Jeremiah. Ellen takes sick and John, who has no health insurance, considers making the difficult decision of selling the family land to take care of his bride.

John comforts Ellen

The Sound of a Dirt Road is a very well-written screenplay that evokes the emotions of those who view it. I sat and observed the faces and reactions of several other HOSFU members while the film played. Their reactions were strong. As you watch this film you really care about John and Ellen and come to fervently dislike the antagonist Jeremiah. The story has several climax points that will have you both tearing and cheering. But alas, I’ve said enough and won’t spoil it for you by telling you how the story ends. This Christian film is definitely worth watching and I encourage you to see Graham Alexander’s handiwork.

Good

• The music of the film, by Taylor Davis, suits the film well.
• The story is exceptionally well-written. Graham doesn’t tell you in dialogue what he can show you in film. Thank you Graham for giving the audience a measure of credit.
• The camera angles and lighting that Graham experiments with are attention-grabbing. From a strictly cinematographic standpoint, Sound Of A Dirt Road is remarkably well done considering the resources that Graham had to use.
• The use of resources in producing a product of this quality is incomparable to anything I’ve yet seen in Christian film. Bravo!

Areas to Improve

• The run-time is far too long; there are several scenes that don’t significantly advance the storyline that could have been edited to move it along. There is a great sequence, however, that begins with John asking Ellen’s father, Howard Sower (Bob Piantanida), for her hand in marriage and ends with the two married as the angry and defeated Jeremiah looks on. This entire sequence is less than a couple minutes in length and not a single word of dialogue is spoken. Look out as Graham Alexander continues to hone his ability to create emotionally-charged sequences without a spoken word.
• A few times throughout the film, the acting is a little hokey. However, this is not the norm and the acting is generally believable and sincere.

The Bottom Line

Sound Of A Dirt Road is a well-written and decently-acted film which, though lengthy, screams of this young Christian filmmaker’s potential. Graham Alexander is gifted. He can write, he knows how to tell a story on the screen, and he is resourceful. His abilities mean so much more than big budgets. I’ve watched multi-million dollar films that should have hired this young man and saved themselves a fortune.

Watch out for MyShow Productions and Graham Alexander. It will be interesting to see what God will use this young man and his team for next. The real question that begs to be asked is, “What would this young filmmaker do with the resources and budgets of films like Fireproof, Expelled and The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry?”

Stay sold out to Christ, Graham! Be prepared, for to whom much is given, much is expected. God has made an investment in you. Use what you have been given for His glory and we look forward to what God will do through you next.

Check out Christian-Movie.com's exclusive interview with
writer, producer, and director Graham Alexander!

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