Actually I was the only one in the theater so technically….
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“Alone Yet Not Alone” is the true story of a German Immigrant family who faces trials and tragedy during the French and Indian War preceding the American Revolution, and how their faith guided them through.
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OK, right off the bat, this may be the hardest movie I’ve ever had to review. Not because I struggled with any kind of confusion about whether or not it’s a well made film or not. (It’s not) or even the dilemma of tearing apart a movie that has something valuable to say. (I’m not sure that the message of this movie is even clear enough to be defended) No, the reason this one is so hard is that it just feels pointless to really dissect a movie that not many are likely to even know about let alone see, except those with a vested interest in it’s success, or who have been convinced that it is a “faith based” film that honors their values. So I’d rather just keep my mouth shut and let it just be whatever it is, except I kinda do this thing where I review every movie that shows in the local multiplex, so I guess this is the consequence. And who knows maybe there will be just one person who thinks, “hmm, I wonder if that movie is worth watching?” and I guess get to be the one to tell them, “No, it’s not”
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This is just an awful movie, all around. The acting is over the top, the score is intrusive, and the story isn’t even really much more than interesting. Now, I would blame a lot of this on the fact that so much of the acting is done by children, but honestly the adults in this aren’t really any better. In fact, the adults often feel like children putting on a play at home for the parents, begging for attention with every movement and facial contortion. It kinda gives the whole movie a feel of desperation, like that person you know that you’re sure is a nice person at heart, but doesn’t realize how annoying the constant need for attention is. And worst of all, I’m not even sure that the message is all that great. I mean, I think they were going for faith and perseverance, but instead ended up with something that is sort of condescending and racially insensitive. In fact, after quoting a few lines of the Native American characters in this to a friend, he wondered if maybe the movie was financed by the owner of a certain Washington football team. Plus, towards the end, when the movie should have been blissfully over, it spends another 20 minutes developing a love story that we don’t care about in the least, even more mudding the already dark waters of what this movie was supposed to truly be about. If you’re waiting for something good, well, without giving it away, I guess there is a moment towards the end that has to be the reason someone thought this was a movie worth making. It was the only part of the story that engaged me at all and it lasted no more than 20 seconds. As if one distant star shining in an otherwise dark inky sky. And maybe in better hands, that moment could have been worth the telling of the story, but here we are just left with what feels like a rambling story you wonder why they are telling in the first place.
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Overall, “Alone Yet Not Alone” is at best a “well intentioned” failure in execution. The entire movie feels condescending, poorly acted, and full of cinematic desperation. Even that one brief moment of gained interest is only enough to bring it up to a D-
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Thanks for checking out this Your Movie Friend review, stay tuned for this review’s “Best Ever” challenge here in bit but first, I’m going to put up some stuff you can click over in this area. If you’d like to subscribe, which I would much appreciate, you can do so by clicking the big gray subscribe button. Want to see more? Well, reviews of the sequels 22 Jump Street and How to Train Your Dragon 2 are out this week as well. You can also Click the logo up here to go to the all new yourmoviefriend.com where you can find a searchable database of reviews as well as the written text of these videos. And finally this review’s “Best Ever” Challenge, where you name the best movie ever in a particular category and also try to identify my choice. What is the “best 18th century movie ever”. I’m going with the one that you might think involves toothless playing hide and seek with Tigger. Drop your own answer and a guess at mine in the comments and first person to guess mine gets a point! Thanks and please subscribe!