The River Within Review

What is our purpose – not our general purpose, but our individual purpose? This is the overarching subject of The River Within, a film written and directed by Zac Heath.

Jason, the lead character played convincingly by Josh Odor, is consumed by the memory of his father – a man who spent his life endlessly pursuing an answer to the question "What am I doing here?"

Determined to find the answer for himself and avoid suffering the same fate as his father, Jason has led the very disciplined life of a law school student. He has graduated and has been offered a position with a law firm, and now all he has to do is pass the bar exam. He returns to his small hometown to spend the summer studying for the test and ends up reconnecting with two friends from yesteryear, Layla (Jaclyn Friendlander) and Paul (Craig Luttrell).

Conflict arises when Layla, who is now engaged, finds that she still has feelings for Jason; Paul – an actor doing time in a furniture gallery – is struggling with serious issues all his own; and Jason, trying to balance it all along with his studies, has a random encounter with the local pastor (compellingly played by Craig Morris) – in need of someone to lead the youth group.

Jason reluctantly takes the position at the church, where he encounters struggles within the church body. But through it all, Jason develops a connection with the youth and a special relationship with youth group member Marcus (played brilliantly by Maurice Mejia). Jason and Marcus form their bond much to the dismay of Marcus’ father, a hard-working businessman who has some purpose issues of his own to deal with.

Meanwhile, Paul receives some news that will forever change his life, Layla’s fiancé struggles with the time she is spending with Jason, and Jason discovers a disturbing secret about Marcus that will never leave the small town the same again. Through all of this, Jason is forced to reconcile his heart and mind with the answer to his father’s question: "What am I doing here?"

At its core, The River Within explores the concept of purpose, but in its depths it is so much more. The River Within deals with strong, specific issues, as they are faced by the film’s characters, which cause us as viewers to examine the purpose in our own lives.

The 98-minute film was shot in 2008 along the beautiful Spring River in Hardy (NE Arkansas). DP (Director of Photography) Derrick Sims is to be commended, as the cinematography is stunning and the shots are interesting and crisp. Zac Heath is also to be praised, as this is his first feature film and his direction and storyline are both intriguing and captivating.

Here’s the scoop:


Good

• Purpose is a timeless issue that everyone deals with, so the film appeals to a broad demographic.
• The cinematography is gorgeous, and the setting lends to colorful and crisp shots that make you feel like you are right there with the characters.
• The River Within deals head-on with some serious issues that are often hidden or swept under the proverbial rug in Christian circles.
• The soundtrack, predominately done by Craig Morris (who also plays Pastor David), is fitting and timely. There were also other great songs submitted that lent to the tone of the film.
• Maurice Mejia plays a supporting role that is so authentic in its delivery that I tracked him down as soon as I saw the screener copy to congratulate him.
• The characters are all real and have flaws. There is depth to each character, as they are portrayed on screen. For example, Craig Luttrell's characterization of Paul casts Paul as a very likable character - like your buddy back home. But Paul still dealt with a range of shortcomings...like your buddy back home.
• The dialogue is genuine and interesting.

• The pace seems a bit slow at parts, but without action sequences this is a difficult aspect to master. Nonetheless, it is obvious that Zac Heath took extraordinary measure to consider the film delivery, and that he made significant effort to keep the pace going.
• The River Within seems to take a bit to get you involved, but once you are involved, you have genuine interest in finding out what happens to the characters. This matches the theme of the film: finding purpose. One almost wonders if this was intentional on Zac’s part.

• I encourage you to add this thought-provoking film to your library. It is a superb movie to have around for friends and family night. For you youth workers out there, it would make a great addition to the church library for a youth group film night – one that would lead to many discussions about life, purpose, and issues that are prevalent among youth of today.

Thank you, Zac Heath and company, for putting together The River Within, a film that we are proud to review here on Christian-Movie.com. Congrats on getting picked up by Cloud Ten Pictures for distribution. I am pleased to add the screener copy of this film to my library, and I pray that our readers will do the same when the film is released on DVD. I look forward to your next project and will be sure to report on it when the time comes.

Check out Christian-Movie.com's exclusive interview with
writer and director Zac Heath

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