The Grace Card (2011)

A religious film. A Christian one. Nice, useful, touching, moving. Like many others. This is the first impression. And it is right and fair. But the film gives more than a moral lesson. Or a preach. It is a film about sufferance - a profound one - and about family. It is a film about the meanings of life. And about chances. About faith and hate and hope and angry. Sure, predictable in many moments and scenes. And too pink in others. For me, I admite, one of good points remains the performance of Louis Gosset jr. in a role who gives to him doing a special , seductive chatacter. Short, an interestong film.

... but not this one.I've been watching movies since I was in diapers. That means almost 50 years of films. Thousands and thousands of them. So a few years back when Christians got into movie making in a big way I was extremely excited, ... until I saw them.I don't know if you've noticed, but there seems to be a real tension in Christian films. Will they use the J-word or just the G-word (or neither)? For some reason, they are either so busy trying to get to the "main stream" OR "not trying to offend" anyone, that they seem to be dancing around the subject of Jesus all together. And while they're dancing, the story seems to fall along the wayside while editing and debating whether to mention Jesus.That's why this film, "The Grace Card" was so refreshing. I actually found it by "accident" here at IMDb. I went over to iTunes to RENT it for the weekend because I am the most frugal (okay, cheap) person in the world. But since the Grace Card was being sold at a "lower-than-the-other-films" price, I bought it. Yes. The cheapskate of cheapskates bought it. I'm so glad I did. Then I can watch this film more than once and whenever I need a boost. This is NOT your average "Christian" film. This one has a story to tell, and they are going to tell it as real as they can. The actors nailed it because I believed them as their characters and I believed their lives. They weren't worried about whether or not they said Jesus. If it's a movie that has a Christian in it, the he SHOULD say Jesus at some point if it's true to life. Right?What was best about this movie is I did see real life in it. I recognized the truth of what it's like when a dedicated Christian who loves Jesus to the core is "stuck" working with someone who can NOT STAND Jesus or at least CHRISTIANS. It had that complete "been there; lived that" feel to it.And while telling this real story of everyday people, whether you relate to the Christian or to the guy who wishes they would just shut up about their religion, you will want to see this movie. Because ultimately, there is not one of us who doesn't need grace and a real friend who will stand by us when life goes way beyond rocky. And for a piece of advice, spend the extra to buy this movie, because it gives you some extra Hope along with that helping of Grace.An added tip to those about to see the Grace Card:*For the women, bring tissues. *For the men, remember the phrase, "I've just got something in my eyes."~ Laura-Lee

I can't believe I wasted 2 hours of my life watching this tripe. I sheepishly admit that I watched the whole movie because I couldn't believe it could be so bad for so long . . . it seemed to last for about four hours? Even leaving aside the sickly condescending Sunday School Christian overtones, the movie is bad on so many levels. The acting is gratingly cheesy, the dialogue almost unintelligible, and the plot is just one cliché after another. It's as though the screenplay has been written by a teenage girl. It's so trite and melodramatic that it probably couldn't even get a slot on daytime TV. How they can charge to view this drivel is beyond me. As a Christian, I can honestly say that the only value in this movie is that it gives you a foretaste of purgatory.

Like others I wasn't expecting much because of the Christian theme but was really surprised. The cinematography was great. Some issues were a little too much use of depth of field and a little too much smoke in scenes. The acting was exceptional given that many are not experienced. Some of the circumstances were a little unbelievable too. Some say it was a little slow moving but that's because there's serious dialog going on and not car chases the American audience seems to relate to. The jist of the movie is about the disconnect between sitting in church and hearing some feel-good sermons and the reality of what is happening in the streets of our country. Mac could have been a carpenter, lawyer, dentist, or farmer; the lesson still fits. It is a touching story and there were people still crying as we left the theater.If it were Hollywood I would give it an 8 but extra points here for spirituality and a great job done on budget!