Movie review: “The Grace Card”
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman. 2 1/2 out of 4 stars.
Despite powerful message, “Grace Card” doesn’t feel like real life
It’s tough to be too hard on a movie as sincere and well-meaning as “The Grace Card,” a micro-budget Christian-made and themed film that earnestly makes the case that the world would be a better place if people swapped bitterness, grief and racism for love, grace and forgiveness.
“The Grace Card” has its emotionally powerful moments, a mighty message and a strong supporting turn from Oscar winner Louis Gossett Jr. But the overwrought melodrama, predictable plotlines and carefully sanitized conflicts hamper the movie’s authenticity. It doesn’t consistently seem like real life, which ultimately undermines the message.
Set in Memphis, Tenn. — the setting of last year’s Oscar-nominated blockbuster “The Blind Side,” which also dealt with race issues and Christian themes – “The Grace Card” follows a white cop, Bill “Mac” McDonald (actor/“clean” comedian Michael Joiner), still churning with pain and anger 17 years after his 5-year-old son was killed by a car driven by a black drug dealer fleeing police.
Mac’s grief has thickened into bile-black bitterness and fractured his family. When his depressed wife Sara (Joy Parmer Moore) finally seeks help from a counselor (Cindy Hodge), he yells they can’t afford it. Their remaining son Blake (Rob Erickson), 17, is on a rebellious streak and haunted by the loss of a brother he can’t remember. When his dad finds drug paraphernalia in Blake’s room or learns he’s about flunk out of school, the teen can hear the “your brother wouldn’t have done this” even when it remains unsaid.
Mac gets passed over for promotion at work because of his seething disposition, and he takes exception when the sergeant’s job goes to affable black patrolman Sam Wright (Michael Higgenbottom), a gentle giant who pastors a small church on the weekends. To add insult to injury, Mac and Sam are paired up as partners until Sam’s transfer comes through.
The arrangement isn’t any easier on Sam, who finds his faith tested as Mac growls at him not to sing hymns during their patrols, goes harder on minority perpetrators than on whites and practically oozes racially-charged resentment. For the first time, easygoing Sam struggles with Christ’s command to love his enemies.
Sam seeks the support of his loving wife Debra (Dawntoya Thomason), who believes Mac has entered his life for a reason. Sam’s sage Grandpa George (Gossett Jr.) advises him to look for a chance to commit an act of grace that will not only help his partner but also serve as an example to his congregation. But grace is easier to receive than to give.
“The Grace Card” is the first film from director David G. Evans, a Memphis optometrist who started Gracework Pictures with his wife to make the movie. It was made for less than $500,000 and with the help of volunteers from Memphis’ Calvary Church, where Evans has been producing the passion play for years. The filmmakers’ passion and Gossett’s screen presence help “The Grace Card” overcome some of the limitations of a small budget and novice director.
“The Grace Card” is being marketed and released by Sony-owned Affirm Films and Provident Films and distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films, the companies behind the Christian hits “Fireproof” and “Facing the Giants.”
Like many faith-based films, “The Grace Card” feels a little too small for the big screen. Even inexperienced movie-goers won’t have any trouble predicting where “The Grace Card” will be played, and such care has been taken to keep the language and violence to church-friendly levels that Sam and Mac’s police work and interactions never ring quite true.
Although it is a Christian film, with better storytelling, “The Grace Card” might have made a better play for the hearts of those who aren’t already believers.
-BAM
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Comments
Beautifully stated, Lisa. I saw it opening night in a packed theatre with my husband and two sons, 17 and 13. All of us loved the movie, and my 17 year old is taking his girlfriend to see it tonight.
You were way too generous with your two and half out of four stars. I would have given a one star and considered that generous. The plot was so predictable most five years old could tell you what was going to happen ten minutes after the show begins.
I find it hard to believe that in a city as large as Memphis the film company couldn’t find any one that could act except for Joiner and Gossett. And even they couldn’t rise about the horrific dialogue in some scenes. The inclusion of foul language would not have made the dialogue more believable, decent writers might have.
The wonderful message this film has is lost in a sea of bad dialogue, predictable plot, bad acting and lack of any real cinematography and post production.
L
I think this was an awesome movie and Lord bless all those who worked on and put time into it! We should all strive to show grace and forgiveness everyday for the rest of our lives! We need many more movies like this!!!
Whoever wrote the review above, stating that it’s not true to life, has never lived in Memphis. I have lived here all my life, and the race relations issues and underlying internal conflicts faced by Christians who are raised in the South are dead on. The absence of foul language does not adversely affect the believability of the movie’s plot any more than the absence of strong, detailed sexual content in many of the older Hollywood movies adversely affect the believability of the movies’ romance and intrigue. The use of such language has never promoted reality in film. It has simply cheated the viewers out of the use of their imaginations and has cheapened society’s views of what constitutes entertainment.
In short, every person in America, and certainly every person in the South, should watch this movie. The actors are endearing, the drama is thick and the message is life-changing. I saw laughter erupt during funny moments, I heard the audience’s breath audibly be taken away when the main character used the ‘N’ word, and I saw grown men weap during this film. If that’s not a ‘believable’ film, then I don’t know what is.
In Christ,
Lisa N. Christian