by Christian Grullon, Contributing Writer
Regarding a youth-centric spiritual movement, we have to talk about Jesus Revolution, a true story based on a Southern California’s ministry with a far-reaching impact. The film starts out beautifully with people being baptized; the baptism sets the tone for how the ministry impacted the community. Then, we are taken back to a year earlier (talk about time travel, right?).
We are introduced to fatherless teen, Greg Laurie (Joel Courtney), who is enrolled at a local military academy and living with his alcoholic mother, Charlene (Kimberly Williams-Paisley). Greg has his heart set on being liberated from his circumstances when he meets new friends. He has his eyes set on outgoing, spiritually-driven Cathe (Anna Grace Barlow). They both find themselves getting hooked on drugs, until Cathe’s sisters’ near-fatal overdose scares her off. Greg’s revelation of saying no to drugs comes after a friend causes near fatal car accident.
The film does a good job of developing Greg’s character and his relationship with Cathe. The setting really gives off late-’60s/early-‘70s Southern California vibes.
While Greg is dealing with life, Pastor Chuck Smith (Kelsey Grammer) is dealing with a dwindling membership at his church, and when he scoffs at the hippie influence criticized on the news, his daughter Janette (Ally Ioannides) scolds him to for his overly judgmental ways. She rightly states that his lack of acceptance is why, “your church is so empty.” Those are the last words a Pastor wants to hear.
One day as Janette is driving and jamming to some good music, she ends up meeting Jesus lookalike: shaggy Lonnie Frisbee (Johnathan Roumie). He tells Janette that he’s coming from San Francisco to spread the gospel. She then introduces Lonnie to Chuck, and immediately Chuck disapproves of Lonnie. But as time goes on, he begins to accept him and his fellow hippies. His congregation, though? Not so much.
Lonnie’s outreach to the community makes such waves that it made the cover of Time magazine in 1971. Yes, DeVon Franklin plays its investigative reporter! Although the film reaches a low point with some of Lonnie’s unorthodox methods, along with Greg and Chuck’s self doubts, it does not take away the highlight of Lonnie and Greg working together to spread the good news.
Another highlight of the film is Greg’s turnaround, as he goes from hippie-disapproval to hippie-friendly. Near the end, the film takes you back to the baptism and real life footage of the movement is showcased. Although the women are underwritten, the faith-based tone and character development do well enough to showcase one of the biggest spiritual movements in a testy period in America.
Score: 9/10
Jesus Revolution is currently playing in theaters
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