Blue Like Jazz (2012)

Don, a nineteen-year-old sophomore at a Texas junior college, tries to escape his Bible Belt upbringing for life in the Pacific Northwest at the most godless campus in America.

Director:

Steve Taylor

Writers:

Donald Miller (screenplay), Donald Miller (story)

Stars:

Marshall Allman, Claire Holt, Tania Raymonde

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Marshall Allman	...	Don Miller
Claire Holt	...	Penny
Tania Raymonde	...	Lauryn
Justin Welborn	...	The Pope
Eric Lange	...	The Hobo
Jason Marsden	...	Kenny
William McKinney	...	Jordan (as Will McKinney)
Jenny Littleton	...	Don's Mom
David Alford	...	Priest
Jeff Obafemi Carr	...	Dean Bowers (as jeff obafemi carr)
Matt Godfrey	...	Yuri
Jeffrey Buckner Ford	...	James Larkin (as Jeffery Buckner Ford)
Traber Burns	...	Phillipe Nouvel
Barak Hardley	...	Town Crier
Jenson Goins	...	Quinn

Storyline

Disenchanted by the church and his devout Christian mother, 19 year-old Donald escapes Texas for the liberal Northwest and attends Reed College at the urging of his secular father. At Reed College, Don finds that his classmates, from all walks of life, are more anti-religious and anti-everything than he was prepared for. In an attempt to fit in, and more importantly, in an attempt to find himself, Don joins an activist group which forces him to question what he really believes in.

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Plot Keywords:

college | texas | church | screenplay adapted by author | color in title | 

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Taglines:

Everybody belongs somewhere.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, sexuality, drug and alcohol content, and some language

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie was made possible by the efforts of fans the refused to see the project die. A campaign on KickStarter was started after a September 16th blog post by Donald Miller that the project was dead due to the lack of backers. By the end of the funding period on October 25th, Save Blue Like Jazz had raised $345,992 (of the $125,000 goal or 276%) from 4495 backers. The earns the project a Hall of Fame ranking on KickStarter as the highest funded project ever.

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Goofs

Don tells his mother that there are no roommates in the dorms at Reed college, but Lauryn tells a story about her "first year roommate".

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Quotes

The Hobo: You only believe that stuff 'cuz you're afraid to hang out with people that don't.

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Crazy Credits

The names of over 1,500 people were listed as Associate Producers of the movie.

User Reviews

Disappointing, not authentic, missed the essence of the book.

I am a huge fan of the book "Blue Like Jazz" and was so looking forward to the movie. I felt this was a great opportunity to produce a Christian film that would be authentic, could show what Christianity really could be, something based on an authentic relationship with Jesus, something really quite beautiful.

To say I was disappointed with the movie is an understatement. For those of you who have read the book and really loved its essence, its soul, how relationships with the key characters were developed, how his relationship with Jesus was developed and experienced, you will be disappointed too.

The thing about the book was it was so authentic, so real, so honest. The movie is none of those things. To say it is a loose interpretation of the book is giving this movie too much credit. It is not an honest and authentic portrayal of the book.

I feel like in some ways Donald Miller sold out - that is, he allowed a movie to be produced that is not an accurate depiction of how he got to Reed college, his key "struggle" is fabricated, acts of deviance are fabricated, the whole movie is really a fabrication.

I was so sad. What a great opportunity missed.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 March 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Blue Like Jazz

Filming Locations:

Portland, Oregon, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,200,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$261,190, 15 April 2012

Gross USA:

$595,018

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$595,018

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ruckus Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1