Movie Review: I Still Believe

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Powerful true story well told

Cons: What I expected to be the heart of the movie shortened

The Bottom Line:

Dramatic story

Offers us sadness and hope

A bit quick at end

Believing God in the Midst of Trial

When movie theaters shut down back in March, it left a few movies with extremely limited theatrical runs.  For example, I Still Believe had just opened when that happened.  I had planned to see it in theaters, but I was busy the one weekend it was out, so it didn’t happen.  Now that I’ve rented the Blu-ray, I’m kind of glad I didn’t catch it in the theaters, although I’m still glad I watched it.

The movie is based on the true story of Christian singer Jeremy Camp (played in the movie by K.J. Apa).  As it opens, he is leaving his family behind in Indiana and starting college in Southern California.  Almost immediately, he meets Melissa Henning (Britt Robinson).  He is captivated by this woman, but she isn’t quite as interested in him at first.  But just as their relationship begins to heat up, she is diagnosed with cancer.  Not only does he stand by her side, he even proposes to her.  Will God work a miracle?

This movie is from the same team that brought us I Can Only Imagine a few years back, the story of MercyMe front man Bart Millard.  I went in to this expecting a well-done movie, and I wasn’t disappointed.  There did seem to be a bit of cheese in the dialogue early on, but I’m not sure if that was because it was a Christian movie or if it was because of the romance.  Honestly, the romance that takes up the early part of the movie feels like something from any romantic movie you’ve seen.

When I realized who was starring in the movie, I wasn’t surprised that the acting is great.  In addition to the two main stars, we get Gary Sinise as Jeremy’s father and Shania Twain as Jeremy’s mother.  Everyone in the cast does a great job of pulling us into the story.

I knew going into this movie that the story would be sad.  It is, and my reaction to it was about what I expected it to be.  This is the reason I am not so sorry I missed the movie in theaters.  It is much easier to cry at home than to try to hide it in the theater.

Honestly, my biggest issue with the movie is that it seems to gloss over much of the struggle Jeremy would have gone through as a result of these events.  It touches on it near the end, but I felt that aspect of the movie was rushed.  Then again, with a run time of almost two hours, it’s not like they skimp on the story.  Maybe they could has shortened a bit of the romance earlier in the movie, but we do need to invest in their relationship for the second half of the story to really impact us.

And keep in mind that this is a minor complaint.  Overall, I did find the movie to be a powerful example of faith in God despite circumstances.

I Still Believe is not always easy to watch, but it is a powerful story.  While I might have missed it in the theaters, I’m still glad I caught it.