False Prophets

Rob Townsend gives us a mirror; immaculate conception, religious zealotry, racial prejudice, violent control of female reproduction play out in this supernatural moral satire. I can't stop thinking about it. This movie is at times edgy, delicately lit and played, acrid, and sledge hammer heavy. The cast is top shelf and Heuring gives an unforgettable performance. Townsend has done a rare thing with this piece of cinema, he raises questions, without forcing answers down your throat as though you were an imbecile. Great flick. Teaming with McClintock has clearly exploded Townsend's creative horizon - I can't wait for their next project.

If you are looking for a new twist to an old story, this is it. Lori Huering creatively portrays Maggie, a young adult who suddenly finds herself having to make several life changing decisions. These decisions are shared with her boyfriend, Wade, played by Clayne Crawford. Simple solutions can turn deadly if we are not careful, and that's something Wade quickly finds out. Placed in harms way, Maggie is befriended by a gas station attendant, Manny, played by Antonio David Lyons. Casting Lyons as the title role was a gutsy move on the part of Townsend. Lyons gives an excellent performance as Gas Station Jesus. Maggie and Manny begin a journey where there is no turning back and there is only one way to go. This film will ask...who do you trust? I look forward to seeing more work from Townsend.

"False Prophets" A.K.A. "Gas Station Jesus" is an interesting film. Lori Heuring stars as Maggie. She is a waitress who unexpectedly gets pregnant. She goes to the hospital decides to have an abortion in two weeks. A Christian cult finds out about this and tries to stop her. The cult find her and at first put up a phony adoption to trick her, but she finds out, and now she's on the run. She then meets Manny (Antonio David Lyons) who is a gas station worker. Manny has a special gift which helps her in a spiritual way.

The movie is well-acted and directed. It's slow-paced, but the plot is different enough so you won't fall asleep. In the end: "False Prophets" is a hidden gem that should be discovered instead of being buried forever.

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"False Prophets" (2006) is about a young pregnant woman, Maggie (Lori Heuring), who gets mixed-up with an apocalyptic group who want her baby. She begins to question the adoption arrangement and finds succor with an old radio preacher, Isaiah (Tucker Smallwood), and his spiritual son, Manny (Antonio David Lyons). Patrick Bergin plays the staunch leader of the cult who are willing to go to extreme measures to get their supposedly Messianic baby.

The film maintains an impressive reverent vibe throughout and relays a story that has spiritual depth. It may be a micro-budget, independent film but the cast and crew rise to the challenge and pull it off. It's nothing spectacular, but it at least shoots for depth, and largely achieves it in an indie film kind of way.

I rarely ever listen to director/writer's commentaries, but occasionally there are some worthy ones, like the writer's commentary on the "First Blood" DVD, which is outstanding. The DVD of "False Prophets" also has a worthy commentary by writer/director Robert Kevin Townsend. He explains parts of the story that you may have missed. For instance, ***MINOR SPOILER*** Isaiah is a type of someone who WORKS to please God whereas his adopted son, Manny, is spiritually gifted. One represents the frustration of laboring to please God and the other represents someone who has God's grace to serve. As a matter of fact, you would think that the title of the film refers to the fundamentalist weirdos, and it does, but it also refers to Isaiah. Take, for example, when he's preaching on the radio in his garage and the blather he shares, mixing truth and error. He's a false prophet too; he just doesn't know it. And that's why he's frustrated; he's serving in his own strength and fleshly anointing. Manny, by contrast, has God's grace and is a true prophet of the LORD. ***END SPOILER*** The film was shot in the Nashville area and -- you might find this strange -- but I like the way the movie features the night sounds of the woods, i.e. crickets and the like.

In any event, "False Prophets" is a good movie if you're in the mood for a Southern Gothic film with a flare of black spirituality, like "The Apostle" (1997), "Mississippi Burning" (1988) or "Waterproof" (2000). It's not as good as the first two, but it's at least as good as the third one. Like I said, this is a small film with an obvious minuscule budget but the themes and the passionate performances make it worthwhile.

The film runs 85 minutes.

GRADE: B

This film carries a lot of good qualities, one of the best I've seen in a while. It is nice to see a movie done this well without the huge budget to make it. The actors were great both main and supporting cast, they all fit well in their roles. The movie gets right into the story and there were no unnecessary scenes. It tell the story well and when it's all over you are left satisfied that all the loose ends are wrapped up.

The film tackles many questions about faith as the characters struggle with their moral and ethical values. It gives us many questions to think about and raises many ideas that perhaps have never occurred to us.

This movie could be considered a great movie for a thriller, suspense or drama. It really is a great watch and I would recommend it to anyone.