First, I am writing this review from the point of view of a born-again Christian. I have seen most of the recent faith based movies in the last 10 years, and it is difficult to find any of them that don't leave me wanting or shaking my head. Most of them do not actually show you the gospel of Jesus Christ, but rather a silly version of the prosperity gospel.
In the usual faith based movie a character is hurt or down on their luck, the film centers on restoring the character's life or marriage, maybe even winning a football game. And these things alone are not problematic, but where most faith based films' message about God centers on just making life easier and feel goodish, Consider it Joy does the opposite by showing the saving grace of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ through the death of a husband and the suffering of a widow.
The appeal of this movie is the remarkable efficiency of the script and direction and the compassionate treatment of its lead character's grief. In fact the story has two distinct parts: the courtship of its two main characters which takes up half the 58 minute movie, and then the death and loss, grief and reconciliation which take up the second half. I'd like to add that there's no dialogue wasted. No filler, no sweetener. They did a fantastic job working with only 58 minutes.
Consider it Joy relies on solid theology and effective editing and storyline. Nothing is wasted here, the script is simple, clear, compassionate and centered on Christ's atonement for our sin. (This is after all what faith based movies should be doing-evangelizing, not just playing Church and fun God stuff.)
Consider it Joy opens with the two lead characters Claire, played by Bonnie Hawley, and David played by Gary Costello meeting after a church service. They grab coffee and several scenes later we see their 3 year old daughter playing with mommy and daddy. What might have bordered on embarrassing or cheesy and a turn-off was not that at all because the ultimate message of the movie transcends any of the flaws. (Before I go on I'd like to touch on the obvious, the actors are not professional career actors. The acting isn't what you might expect from seasoned performers. But a big "however", the amateur but raw acting synced well the overall message of the movie.) In fact... Had the actors been any other than the two that played both leads, this movie would have been a pathetic waste.... the chemistry between the actors is solid, relatable and this movie would have not been compelling save for the correct choice of amateur actors.
Because the movie is very dated it would be easy to confuse that with being campy. And while there are several campy scenes (it was low budget 1980s) overall the script and direction worked very well with the content. It was believable, especially after the death of the main character David, leaving behind a grieving widow, Claire.
This short film deals with the process of a woman's deep grief through the gospels of Christ, and it treats that process with dignity; Claire's grief comes across as genuine and believable. For a low budget Christian film this is a remarkable achievement.
This may seem like a long wordy review, but in the light the fact that so many faith based movies tip toe around to avoid the gospel of God's saving grace and atonement for man's sin in favor of feel good ambiguous slop - Consider it Joy faces the point of Christianity head-on and unapologetically. And for this any of the movie's flaws are forgiven.
If you are looking for a good faith based movie that is centered upon the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and his atoning work for our sins, watch this. If you're a grieving person and need a movie that treats grief with compassion and understanding, watch this. If you're an unbeliever and you've slogged through faith movies that had no awareness of Christ's main purpose, maybe you've seen too many weird, silly faith based movies, but you're willing to check another out, watch this.
In the usual faith based movie a character is hurt or down on their luck, the film centers on restoring the character's life or marriage, maybe even winning a football game. And these things alone are not problematic, but where most faith based films' message about God centers on just making life easier and feel goodish, Consider it Joy does the opposite by showing the saving grace of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ through the death of a husband and the suffering of a widow.
The appeal of this movie is the remarkable efficiency of the script and direction and the compassionate treatment of its lead character's grief. In fact the story has two distinct parts: the courtship of its two main characters which takes up half the 58 minute movie, and then the death and loss, grief and reconciliation which take up the second half. I'd like to add that there's no dialogue wasted. No filler, no sweetener. They did a fantastic job working with only 58 minutes.
Consider it Joy relies on solid theology and effective editing and storyline. Nothing is wasted here, the script is simple, clear, compassionate and centered on Christ's atonement for our sin. (This is after all what faith based movies should be doing-evangelizing, not just playing Church and fun God stuff.)
Consider it Joy opens with the two lead characters Claire, played by Bonnie Hawley, and David played by Gary Costello meeting after a church service. They grab coffee and several scenes later we see their 3 year old daughter playing with mommy and daddy. What might have bordered on embarrassing or cheesy and a turn-off was not that at all because the ultimate message of the movie transcends any of the flaws. (Before I go on I'd like to touch on the obvious, the actors are not professional career actors. The acting isn't what you might expect from seasoned performers. But a big "however", the amateur but raw acting synced well the overall message of the movie.) In fact... Had the actors been any other than the two that played both leads, this movie would have been a pathetic waste.... the chemistry between the actors is solid, relatable and this movie would have not been compelling save for the correct choice of amateur actors.
Because the movie is very dated it would be easy to confuse that with being campy. And while there are several campy scenes (it was low budget 1980s) overall the script and direction worked very well with the content. It was believable, especially after the death of the main character David, leaving behind a grieving widow, Claire.
This short film deals with the process of a woman's deep grief through the gospels of Christ, and it treats that process with dignity; Claire's grief comes across as genuine and believable. For a low budget Christian film this is a remarkable achievement.
This may seem like a long wordy review, but in the light the fact that so many faith based movies tip toe around to avoid the gospel of God's saving grace and atonement for man's sin in favor of feel good ambiguous slop - Consider it Joy faces the point of Christianity head-on and unapologetically. And for this any of the movie's flaws are forgiven.
If you are looking for a good faith based movie that is centered upon the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and his atoning work for our sins, watch this. If you're a grieving person and need a movie that treats grief with compassion and understanding, watch this. If you're an unbeliever and you've slogged through faith movies that had no awareness of Christ's main purpose, maybe you've seen too many weird, silly faith based movies, but you're willing to check another out, watch this.