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Do You Believe? Mira Sorvino, Cybil Shepherd, Lee Majors, Robert Forrester, Delroy Lindo, Ted McGinley, Sean Astin, Alexa PenaVega, Brian Bosworth, Andrea Logan White, Valerie Dominguez, Tracy Melchior. Drama. Written by Chuck Konzelman (God’s Not Dead), Cary Solomon (God’s Not Dead). Directed by Jonathan M. Gunn. It is from the same producers as God's Not Dead and will be released theatrically 3/20/15. FILM SYNOPSIS: Do You Believe? follows the deeply personal journey of a handful of characters trudging through a life riddled with problems all too familiar to our own. Through trials and triumphs, their stories weave together into a beautiful design that hinges on a single question and the redemptive power of the cross. The story that unfolds is one of love and forgiveness, heartbreak and healing, broken dreams and hope restored, courage, suffering, unwavering faith, second chances, and the gift of new life When Matthew Wesley has a very abrupt encounter with a homeless man on the street in the middle of the night, it starts a series of life-changing stories spinning into motion, each story a thread – Bobby and Elena Wilson, struggling to make ends meet; Carlos, Elena’s brother, who just returned from military service and can’t acclimate himself back into life; Samantha Matheson, homeless and searching to find a better life for her daughter, Lily; Joe Phillips, an intimidating, brawny convict who is secretly fighting for his life; JD and Teri Newton, an elderly couple who lost their daughter years ago and are still paralyzed with grief; Kriminal, 40 Ounce and Pretty Boy, street thugs who terrorize the neighborhood; Maggie, a pregnant 16-year-old who was kicked out of her house and is about to end it all. Stories of desperation, all intermingled and coming together into one climactic wreck, where each must work together or all will be lost. PREVIEW REVIEW: The common theme of securing a spiritual equilibrium is handled convincingly in this set of intertwining stories of different lives connected by a single question several of the characters aren’t yet asking. Despite the age of science we live in, there are still questions that nag at the consciousness of man. Questions science can’t answer. And while most popcorn-crunching blockbuster wannabes that bombard our Cineplexes avoid the subject of the soul altogether, Do You Believe? does so successfully, both artistically and emotionally. In a way, it’s kind of a Christian version of Crash, that film being a sort of metaphor concerning different ethnic groups finding common ground. The vignettes in Do You Believe? serve to connect us while also reminding us that God is with us all, and that He gave us His most treasured gift. With skill and sincerity, director Jonathan M. Gunn uses an outstanding cast to cause us to ask questions at film’s end. And his fine use of a resonate church sermon at just the right stage of the narrative suggests the answer to those questions. How wonderful to see veteran acting pros such as Mira Sorvino, Cybil Shepherd, Lee Majors, Robert Forrester, Delroy Lindo and Ted McGinley in a film about the need for faith. It is something sorely missed in most faith-based productions – actors who have mastered emotional range. Do You Believe? proves that a movie containing spiritual values can be done effectively when producers employ those who know how to tell a story and those who know how to act it out. Preview Reviewer: Phil BoatwrightDistributor: Pure Flix Summary Copyright Preview Family Movie Review (www.previeoOnline.org) |