Saving God Review

Cloud Ten Pictures and Clear Entertainment unite to produce one of the finest Christian films I’ve been blessed to see to date. Starring Ving Rhames (Mission Impossible I, II, III, Con Air, Pulp Fiction), Dean McDermott (Tori & Dean Inn Love, Earth Final Conflict, Outer Limits), and Ricardo Chavira (Desperate Housewives, The Alamo, JAG), Saving God stands out from the rest of the pack within the sphere of Christian film.

Unfortunately, this sphere has been categorically equated with sub-par filmmaking. In the past, great hearts, lack of experience, and multiple-hat-wearing has generally equaled films that are simply inferior to their Hollywood counterparts.

Thank you, Cloud Ten, for being a pioneer and breaking Christian film’s sub-par stigma with this 100-minute long movie, marvelously directed by first-time Christian film director, Duane Crichton.

When you first roll the film, the opening credits immediately let you know that you are in for something special. A moving score sets the mood as cast and crew names are pulled from photographs, paper clippings, and documents. The tone is quite appropriate for the opening scene in which Pastor Armstrong Cane (Ving Rhames) is visiting the tomb of his parents, having been recently released from prison after serving 15 years for murder.

The scene cuts to the street in front of Cane’s church where Norris Johns (Dwain Murphy), a local small-time drug dealer, is dealing for the neighborhood drug pusher, Blaze (Dean McDermott). A relationship between Pastor Cane and Norris begins when Cane intervenes in a conflict between Norris and a rival dealer. We learn through the film that Norris Johns, brilliantly played by Murphy, has a good heart but is faced with turmoil, conflict, and choices that lead to significant consequences in his life, and the lives of those who love him.

Meanwhile, Pastor Cane has his own interactions with a prominent televangelist named Danny Christopher (Ricardo Chavira). Christopher is the pastor of a large and financially successful church, but he is more of a businessman than a pastor. In contrast, Cane is doing everything he can to simply save the small church in his impoverished neighborhood. In a powerful and exquisitely written scene by screenwriter Michael Jackson, the two pastors exchange words which exemplify their conflict, as Cane says to Christopher, "You are selling God; I’m trying to save God."

Saving God is a tremendously well written, directed, and produced film of hope and salvation, containing twists that will leave you stunned.


Good

1. Recognizable actors pepper Saving God, bringing talent and experience to the screen. This is a boon to the film, greatly strengthening its marketability.
2. Saving God’s up and coming actors, like Dwain Murphy and Genelle Williams, feed off of the experience of the veteran actors and pull off noteworthy performances as a result.
3. Karen Williams and Joe Bostick, the casting associates for this film, are to be commended. The entire film was superbly cast.
4. Director Duane Crichton is a gem of a find for Cloud Ten and does a masterful job in the directing of this believable, gritty, and raw film.
5. The title song for the film, "I Traveled," performed by recording artist Jully Black, is captivating and memorable.
6. The film has realism to it. I appreciate the fact that the characters are not perfect, and yet they seek after and long for a relationship with the living God.

Areas to Improve

Lighting! Lighting! Lighting! While it is hard to pick apart a movie as fine as this one, a noteworthy area to improve would be that of lighting. When working primarily with African American actors and actresses in Canadian winter, it is imperative that lighting be reviewed and re-reviewed. Obviously some shots are intended to be obscure, but there are multiple times throughout the film that the lighting is found wanting.


The Bottom Line

Saving God is a remarkable film and, as stated earlier, one of the finest Christian films I’ve ever been blessed to watch. In the history of faith-based films, acting is more often than not one of the glaring failures. This is not the case in Saving God. What a praise! The acting throughout the entirety of this film is the most authentic I’ve seen in any Christian film release. This is a must-see film and a necessary addition to any Christian media library.

Cloud Ten Pictures has broken the mold and the Christian film stereotype of sub-par filmmaking is destroyed with the release of Saving God. Paul Lalonde, André van Heerden, Philip Mellows, and Wayne Thompson of Cloud Ten Pictures, and Domenic Serafino of Clear Entertainment, have raised the bar of excellence among Christian filmmakers. The amount of positive recognition and awards that this film has been nominated for, and has received, confirms the overall quality of Saving God.

Thank you, Cloud Ten and Clear Entertainment, for producing this film. You have set the bar high, not only for yourselves, but for every Christian filmmaker out there. May God continue to bless the work of your hands. I look forward to you pushing the bar even higher, through the power of the King, with your next release.

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