This is a fun one. I saw it a long time ago in a theater. We were watching the movie and Kathy remarked Jerry Landers looks like a young John Denver. Well there is a reason for this, he is a young John Denver. He actually was in several movies, I am considering picking up Walking Thunder.
Great screenplay, lots of talent, great lines, what is not to like. One of my favorites in the early part of the movie is when Jerry is telling God, (George Burns), why he can''t do it. Jerry says, "I don't belong to a church", God replies, "Neither do I."
There is a bit of a slow start. Bobbie, (Teri Garr), does a pretty good job of being the confused and worried wife. One thing that is pretty nifty is that Jerry's message goes viral. The religious editor would not publish Jerry's message that God wanted him to share. But God convinced him to try again. This time he got one line in an article. That led to other papers and TV and that of course leads to trouble. Trouble for Jerry, trouble for the Landers family. His kids start to put distance between themselves and Jerry. You can imagine what the kids in school did to Jerry's kids.
Somewhere in the middle of the movie, Jerry appears before a multi-denominational religious panel. They give him a set of questions written in Aramaic and he agrees to be locked in a hotel room and answer them. God shows up as a bus boy and answers the questions.
Love the scene where Jerry takes the questions to the TV evangelist and calls him a fake.
Parents, no violence or nudity stood out for me. Obviously the movie will have a few takes that will run counter to what some denominations teach. In fact, I will go out on a limb and say that something in the movie will run counter in some way to what all denominations teach. But at the end of the day, if you are willing to let your kids watch Joshua, (2002), or show it in your church, this is not so different.
I am glad we saw the movie, not at all certain I will watch it again, so it may end up in the trade box.
One thing puzzles me, if you know the answer please answer by comment, why is there so much orange in the movie? Play on John Denver's last name with the Broncos?
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