Movie Review: God's Not Dead

God's Not Dead

Presented by: Pure Flix

Director: Harold Cronk

Writers: Cary Solomon and Chuck Konzelman

2014

Prominent Cast: Kevin Sorbo, Shane Harper, David A. R. White

Genre: Drama

Reviewed by: Leah

God's Not Dead Website

This is a movie I would recommend to everyone.  You will feel it.


Summary:

Josh Wheaton is a Christian freshman college student taking an introductory philosophy class on his way to pre-law.

Professor Jeffrey Raddison is an atheist who has no time to discuss theology when there is more than enough coursework on the "important" philosophical debates.  Thus, on the first day of his new class, he requires only three written words, to be signed, from each member of the class for him to skip an entire section.  These words are: God is dead.

Knowing that a battle of faith and will is about to be waged, Josh stands by his beliefs and refuses to write the words.  Thus he has thrown himself into the lion's den and Professor Raddison is eager to sink in his teeth.

Josh is then given a choice: write the words, drop the class, or defend God against a man who has hated him almost all of his life.

In the end, Josh's decision depends on one fact: God's Not Dead.


Review:

First of all, let me just say that I would recommend this movie to anyone.  Christian, atheist, agnostic, Pagan, Muslim, etc.  It doesn't matter who you are or what you believe, because I think anyone could take away some form of message from a movie like this.

This story is not about Christianity vs. atheism.  It's not about there being a right religion or converting those who don't wish to be converted.  The movie I just watched was not about divinity.  It was about humanity.

This is a story about free will.

A tale about choice.

And it is the story of one young man's decision to do what he think is right and stand up for his beliefs, despite what he's risking by doing so.

This is the movie I would recommend to anyone who just needs to have faith in themselves.

Watching Josh's struggle, against all the negativity and doubt that bombards him, you begin to understand what it must feel like to believe so strongly in something that you can't just turn your back on it.  And this intensity fills you as you watch this young man stand up for himself.  To look in the eyes of a man who would attempt to bully him into his own way of thinking and tell him that he's wrong.

If at any time you begin to doubt yourself and your own convictions about any matter whatsoever, I say watch this movie.

Because it makes you evaluate your priorities.  Causes you to think about what you are most passionate about.  And makes you question how you would react should anyone else tell you that you're wrong.

This movie has the ability to inspire and empower you, if you let it.

It's all about choice.


Character Portrayals:

I don't think I've ever been quite as impressed with a cast as I was with this one.  Each character was played to perfection and I just want to give a round of applause for each person who took on these roles and made them so very real.  Thank you.

And while there was such great acting from Shane Harper and David A. R. White and the other wonderful members of the cast, there are actually two roles that stood out as the most noteworthy.  Mostly because of how controversial their characters were.

The first, obviously, is Professor Radisson.  Kevin Sorbo really puts his all into making this character as believable as possible.  This portrayal as a man who is not only an atheist but a cynic leaps right off the screen.  Kevin Sorbo's performance makes Professor Radisson easily your most love-to-hate character of 2014.

And the second most notable performance belonged to Trisha LaFache for her role as Amy, an internet reporter who is a humanitarian atheist who gladly damns hunters and Christians alike.  At first, she's someone you equally love-to-hate.  Yet, as her story progresses, you begin to feel very strongly for her predicament.  While her character may not be featured as one of the most prominent as far as the cast goes, she adds more to the storyline than you would think.  And for her to be portrayed so flawlessly as Trisha LaFache has done…  It's truly a pleasure to watch.


Final Thoughts:

To wrap this up, I'll just repeat what I've been saying all this time: watch this movie.  I don't care who you are or what you believe, if the only thing you take away from this is that you have the right to stand up for yourself, no matter who is putting you down, then that is enough.

In the end, it's all up to you.