Wesley (2009)

Director:

John Jackman

Writers:

Carolyn Haywood (screenplay)
John Jackman (writer)

Release Date:

2009 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Plot:

The year is 1732. John Wesley, an irritatingly self-righteous instructor at Oxford is offered the chance to go to the new colony of Georgia...

Plot Keywords:

Georgia | Social Ministry | Missionary | Methodist Church | Hymns

Status:

Completed | See complete list of 12,000 in-production titles »

Status Updated:

21 October 2009

More Info:

See more production information about Wesley (2009) only on IMDbPro.

Note:

Because this project is categorized as being in production, the data is subject to change; some data could be removed completely.

Cast

 

Burgess Jenkins	...	John Wesley
R. Keith Harris	...	Charles Wesley
other cast:
June Lockhart	...	Susanna Wesley
Bill Oberst Jr.	...	Peter Boehler
Kevin McCarthy	...	Bishop Ryder
Roger Willie	...	Cusseta
Christy Johnson	...	Mrs. Hawkins
Robert Harris	...	Prison Warder
Carrie Anne Hunt	...	Sophy Hopkey
Devin McGee	...	Young Man
Justin St. Gelais	...	School boy
Jim Babel	...	Footman
Rachel St. Gelais	...	School girl
Dave Blamy	...	Father
Ted Johnson	...	Board Member
Josh Long	...	David Nitschmann
Reid Dalton	...	Rector
Bill Pacer	...	First Mate
Edd Robinson	...	Coal miner
David Lowe	...	John Romley
Tommy Flaherty	...	Drunk
Steven St. Gelais	...	School boy
Mark Alton Rose	...	Dr. Hawkins
Davis Osborne	...	Sailor
Tom Barker	...	Herr Toltschig (as Thomas Barker)
Hilary Russo	...	Mary Musgrove
Scott Reynolds	...	Bishop
Thomas Upchurch	...	Mr. Bray
James Molinari	...	Mr. Elliot
Cricket Ellis	...	Innkeeper's Wife
Rusty Martin	...	Young John Wesley
Alex Dillard	...	Singing drunk
Renee St. Gelais	...	School girl
Kai Elijah Hamilton	...	Mob Man
Terry Nienhuis	...	James Locke
Randy Bernard	...	Furniss
Leanne Bernard	...	Grace Murray
Jim McKeny	...	Tom Causton
Susan Molenda	...	Mrs. Causton
Peter Savage	...	Mr. Williamson
Jessica Marks	...	Teenage Girl
Les Puryear	...	Vicar
Josh Stein	...	Town Crier
Molotov Mitchell	...	Workman
Eric Cover	...	William Seward
James France	...	Wealthy Mine Owner
Paul Miller	...	George Whitefield
Dennis T. Ferrell	...	Thug
Richard F. Strohmeier	...	Elderly Priest
E.R. Haire	...	Innkeeper
Mark Boynton	...	Oglethorpe
J. Hampton Rowe	...	Harker
Patricia Mitchell	...	Coal Miner's Wife
Jeff Luckadoo	...	Constable
Shelton Grant	...	Cicero
Michael Huie	...	Samuel Wesley
Lloyd Arneach	...	Tomochichi
Peter Bost	...	Dick Baker
Ray Collins	...	Angry Bishop
Sasha Morfaw	...	Moravian Singer
James Tunstall	...	Benjamin Ingham
Suzanne Feehely	...	Mine Owner's Wife
Erik Nelson	...	Delamotte
Troy Wilson	...	Singing Moravian
R. Manley Lucas	...	Chairman
Gene Johnson	...	Ship Captain
Sara Fineran	...	Mrs. Welch
Mike O'Neil	...	Davison
Clark Sanders	...	Mr. Smithers
Bobby Hege	...	Attacker
Stefan Schuette	...	Congregate
Caleb Stein	...	School boy
Todd Ferrell	...	Thug 1
John Stein	...	Mr. White
Kelli Coffman	...	Drunk Woman

Runtime:

USA:110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Old Salem, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA

Company:

Foundery Pictures

Trivia:

The other Presidential connection in "Wesley" is the shaving mirror that John Wesley uses in his room at Oxford, which was originally owned by President James K. Polk (1795-1849).

great religious biography

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Disclaimers first - I am a United Methodist minister and so I am biased by my love for Wesley as our denomination's founder. Nonetheless, I am also a movie fanatic and so when I had a chance to see a nearly complete version of this film back in October, I was very excited, but also somewhat apprehensive.

My distaste of religious films has always been great ever since i saw A thief in the Night back in the 1980s and Left Behind in more recent years. Wesley however, has broken that chain of crap for me.

It was a very well done movie. It was beautifully filmed and the acting is excellent (with the exception of a few small potatoes supporting actors). The actors who play John and Charles have a great chemistry together, and John and Sophey Hopkey's scenes together are wonderful as well. The director did a great job portraying their sexual chemistry, while remaining true to Wesley's own diaries and journals. He does not embellish the story so far as i can tell, and keeps the action moving along well until the last 20 minutes or so.

It is after Wesley's return to England and his "conversion" that the movie drags. Until that point, the movie moves fluidly. Back in England though, it stumbles under its own desire to be historically accurate and give the whole story. There are just a few too many scenes of Wesley's preaching "successes" and his organizational meetings.

The film succeeds on many levels - accurately portraying Wesley's willingness to talk with persons of all backgrounds in order to learn from their faith journeys, it accurately portrays Wesley's ocd and his struggles with adapting to his setting, and finally, it accurately portrays his struggles with the powers that be in the Church of England. Where it falters is trying to tell too much of Wesley's story in the first year after his conversion. The director would have been better served by focusing on John's first exposure to slavery and his lifelong opposition to the practice.

Finally, and for many viewers, the most important part is this: the film does not hesitate in proclaiming the Christian gospel. It is true to Wesley's passion to save souls and it offers a moving portrait of his love for God and the church. Well worth your time.