Badmovies.org Forum

I really debated over which side of the Forum to put this review on.  This is a well-done, and (I think) well-intended movie, but at the same time,
its central premise is so ridiculous that I have a hard time taking it seriously.  Here is a summary that does include some spoilers:

Reverend John Luther is a passionate and sincere evangelist whose TV ministry reaches millions every week.
While he is preparing to go on the air at the beginning of the movie, he is visited by an old friend - a Senator who is sponsoring a
controversial bill called something like the "Equal Access of Religions" Act.  While its terms are never spelled out, you get the idea
that the law would force all religious programs and public events to grant equal time to all faiths.  The Senator is haranguing Rev. Luther
to support the bill, but the evangelist refuses, claiming that it will compromise his commitment to the truth of Scripture.  The Senator
warns him that "important people" are sick and tired of his opposition, and this is his last chance.  Luther ignores him and speaks out
against the bill.

After his program, a man approaches him with a young girl in tow and informs the Reverend she is a huge fan, and that she wants her
picture made with him.  He agrees, and a couple of innocent enough shots are taken with her camera phone.  But then, as Luther is
driving home, he sees the same girl run out onto a deserted stretch of road, frantically waving her arms.  When he stops, the man
who had posed as her father slips out from the bushes and drugs him.  Once he is unconscious, a series of compromising photos are
taken on the camera phone - then the mysterious man kills the girl and runs the vehicle off the road with Luther in it, calling in an
anonymous accident report to the police.

Luther escapes and goes on the run, trying to prove his innocence, even as an indictment is handed down accusing him of statutory rape
and murder. His one ally, a Catholic priest played by Fred Thompson, is killed when he finds video evidence proving Luther's innocence.
Luther's chief ministry assistant, on the other hand, sells out and agrees to support the Senator's bill.

Eventually, Luther confronts the Senator and manages to get the man to confess that the whole thing was a set-up.  He is vindicated and
restored to his family, but his whole life is shaken, and the movie ends in a cliff hanger.

I found this to be somewhat intriguing and thought provoking, but at the same time, it is also the product of an American church that hasn't faced
real persecution in so long we have forgotten what it is like.  All in all, an A for effort, a B for acting, and an F for plot.  It's just too farfetched,
IMO, to be believable, and that spoils it.

Now and then I watch one of these "Christian" movies... they all are pretty sucky, but the ones dealing with the rapture and the post-rapture world can be good cheesy fun. The two-parter "Revelation Road", for instance, or the "Left Behind" series with Kirk Cameron.

Of course, not bein a practising Christian, I often find their "messages" questionable, when not downright wacky, but that's also part of the fun.

This one I skipped because the plot seemed already too hypocritical. Oh see, the bad guys want all religions to have the same rights. Wow, that's evil.

EDIT: Just saw this, it seems to be begging for a place in this website: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1618432 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1618432)

"I'm in love with a Church Girl", starring Ja Rule and Michael Madsen.

Actually, while I do find the plot completely ridiculous, accuracy does compel me to point out it was not "equal rights" but "equal time in each other's pulpits".  That's a whole nother kettle of fish!