Post by StevePulaski on Jun 20, 2017 16:22:15 GMT -5
The Resurrection of Gavin Stone (2017)
Directed by: Dallas Jenkins
Directed by: Dallas Jenkins
![](http://images.contentful.com/7h71s48744nc/3mXM6Ah4buAgYs6Kgmakq4/ee1b7b37e4c335306e795a913911597e/Resurrection_of_Gavin_Stone__Large.jpg.jpeg)
Brett Dalton in The Resurrection of Gavin Stone.
Rating: ★★
The Resurrection of Gavin Stone admirably steers itself away from the kind of condescending proselytizing that's ever-present in other contemporary Christian films, such as God's Not Dead and the Kendrick Brothers' films. I'm not talking about their dependence on Christian themes nor am I talking about the fact that Christian cinema exists at all, but many films' prolific desire to paint nonbelievers or non-Christians as souls incapable of morality or kindness. Director Dallas Jenkins' film doesn't do that, but perhaps if it did, it would have a bit more life and substance than it currently does.
The film is a bland retread of formula about a washed-up, sinful child star who comes home after years of inactivity and legal troubles to perform community service. The struggling actor - the titular Gavin Stone, played by Brett Dalton - reconnects with his father (Neil Flynn) while putting in his 100 hours working as a janitor at a church. While working, he notices the church is putting on an Easter play and are holding auditions, so, in response, Gavin makes the case that he's a legitimate Christian in order to obtain the starring role of Jesus Christ.
As soon as Gavin receives the role as the Messiah, he begins monopolizing the entire project, creating minor tension with stage-director Kelly (Anjelah Johnson) as a result. Kelly, however, magically can't see how fragrantly un-Christian Gavin is, remaining selfish and dictatorial as he ironically plays arguably the most selfless human being ever to exist. The pastor of the church (D.B. Sweeney) is simply humbled by the gravitas he brings to the role of Jesus, which is what largely keeps him on as a castmember.
Brett Dalton (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) is an adequate performer here, but he's given desperately little with which to work, making his role as Gavin Stone as vanilla as it could be. Despite handling some of Gavin's outbursts and moments of frustration fairly well, Dalton doesn't have the charisma - which, I feel, is more a fault in Andrea Gyertson Nasfell's screenplay - to transcend Gavin beyond anything more than a conniving and manipulative cad. Ordinarily, these traits can make for an interesting character-examination, but Nasfell's script combined with Jenkins' pedestrian direction is not nearly complex enough to make a film like this get much more than a few feet off the ground as a study of an anti-hero.
In an attempt to cut through the weightiness of the material, Nasfell's screenplay tries to evoke comedy that feels stuffy because of its moral foundation. We see Gavin almost incapable of functioning in the beginning of the film, snacking on communion wafers and looking onto a collection plate with great confusion as if his career as a Hollywood movie-star somehow made him incapable of any and all decency and socialization. Perhaps these are the subtle jabs at nonbelievers being amoral, and if that's the case, the film is commendably more subtle than many of its contemporaries.
The real humor stems from all of the distributors that have their names on this unassuming, frankly straight-to-Christian-TV-quality movie. There's Walden Media, responsible for The Chronicles of Narnia film adaptations, WWE Studios, and BH Tilt, an offshoot of the largely horror-based studio Blumhouse Productions. In addition, there's two quirky Christian studios known as Vertical Church Films and Power in Faith, essentially making this a collaborative film between blockbuster, religious, and horror companies - all for a theatrical release that returned minimal dividends.
Furthermore, Gavin Stone's story of redemption doesn't feel very special at the end of it all. Even if that's what Nasfell was going for with her script - the commonality of Gavin Stone's character believably being anybody - Gavin feels inaccessible to the audience on the basis of his domestic success as an actor and the recognition of his name, something most born-again Christians likely can't relate to. With that, it's not as if Gavin needs to overcome adversity nor does he have ulterior forces keeping him down. His downfall was a result of his own personal turmoil inflicted on himself by himself through selfish methods we're supposed to believe completely evaporate or significantly minimize by playing the role of Jesus Christ and taking it seriously for maybe ten of the 100 hours.
The Resurrection of Gavin Stone, like its anti-hero, feels phony at times, but most of all, manufactured in an assembly-line fashion, with cherry-picked actors, supporting actors, a director, and a writer that scream stopgap employment for all involved. If it leads to bigger for all involved - particularly Dalton, who I could see doing well with a better script - then I suppose it's an accomplishment.
Starring: Brett Dalton, Anjelah Johnson, D.B. Sweeney, and Neil Flynn. Directed by: Dallas Jenkins.