“Flywheel” is preceded by a short message from Alex
Kendrick, essentially warning people about the production values and explaining
the context in which the film was made.
A “church movie” never intended to be viewed beyond their local
community, it is a testament to God at work in these productions that anyone
else has even heard of this film, much less that it would be available to rent
or buy now anywhere.
Yes, by Hollywood’s priority-disordered standards,
where even a “low budget” film costs enough to feed starving masses for a
lifetime, this film looks and feels “cheap.”
But sit down to watch it with the mindset of “this movie was made by a
local church—like mine,” and all that falls away. What makes the greatest impression is the
quality of the writing, which even in this very first effort of a bunch of
“media ministry” guys trying to figure out how to make a film, stands up very well.
The strongest thing about the story is that the
characters do not suffer from that all-too-prevalent “Christian movie”
pathology of the goody-good syndrome.
Often, Christian filmmakers (even the ones with money!) seem reluctant
to put any real conflict in a story, and/or to present characters with any real
flaws. The main characters are usually
“pretty good guys” with “sorta kinda” problems.
The whole impression is milquetoast boring at best, and insufferably
patronizing at its worst. The engine of
a story IS conflict—without real conflict, there is no drive. And the interest of a character is in his
transformation—if your character is already “pretty much there,” there’s no
engaging journey we can take with him.
The Kendricks get this, and as a result, all of their films have stories
worth watching.
God is definitely pouring real creative spirit into the
Kendrick brothers. Even this very first
film has actual “teeth.” Jay Austin is
genuinely despicable when the film opens; he is the salesman you truly fear
when you go to buy a used car. At home,
he’s a nasty husband and a neglectful, thoughtless father. His very pregnant and very frustrated wife is
sarcastic and disrespectful. His kid
openly admits to a friend that he doesn’t want to grow up to be anything like
his dad. All of this is developed
naturally, not stereotypically; this family is written as very real
people (aside from the fact that they
seem to have the world’s unhealthiest eating habits—although, considering the
state of most Americans’ health these days, maybe that is pretty real,
too).
The story turns on what happens when this
very-superficially “Christian” man is pushed to the point that he must admit he
needs God and give his life over to Christ.
Unlike other “come-to-Jesus” films, however, that’s not anything like
the ending; they’re just getting started.
It appears we’re in for a simple, “turn your life over to God and live
happily ever after” message, but the Kendricks have more to say than that. Sin still has worldly consequences, life
still has potholes and bumps in the road, but their clever and well-crafted
story gives us a glimpse into how the highway of life becomes a different
experience when you give God the wheel.
A keeper.
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