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Me & You, Us, Forever (2008) |
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C+ |
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N/A |
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Would have been better as a "7th St. Theater" show
by Chris (movies profile)
Apr 5, 2008
My wife and I went to see this in an empty theater which should have been our warning of what to expect. We endured the entire movie and left feeling a bit uneasy ... almost feeling we had been proselytized to. Although we knew it would have a Christian-based theme, and were fine with that, I believed Dave Christiano struggled to integrate Christian dialog into the script and make the conversations flow smoothly. Too often, the dialog sounded preachy and interrupted the natural flow of conversation throughout. I thought every actor/actress did a fantastic job in spite of this roadblock in the script.
That said, we all have our expectations when viewing a movie ... particularly one we paid to watch in a movie theater. I can understand the other reviewers' comments of the slow pace, bland dialog and uninspiring acting. It's as if Christiano intentionally bucked the standards of Hollywood motion pictures ... perhaps to make a statement (i.e. stand on a pulpit?) ... albeit what must have been an expensive one for him.
Given the obvious limitation of the "entertainment value" of the film, it appears that Christiano was willing to take a hit in that area in order drive home a lesson he learned during his teen years (the movie was based on his personal life experience). Of course, that lesson was how precious one's first true love is and how it's something that will always remain with them. How an individual (in this case, the main character who was played by Michael Blain-Rozgay) deals with that point, with respect to their present life, is one that Christiano allowed to roam slightly out of control through most of the movie before he shed light, at the end of the film, and reeled us in to the point he was trying to make. In a way, it's a bit unfortunate as this caused considerable confusion from a moral and even common-sense standpoint (e.g. living in the past versus present, intruding into a former lover's life after a long time period). Based on those who have watched and reviewed this film, these were points that disturbed them enough to question what was going through Christiano's mind ... especially in a film filled with strong evangelical Christian overtones. In the end, after the main character had been practically labeled a stalker, and was chided by his friends for his behavior, Christiano finally reveals where he was coming from. While many folks were led to believe the main character was looking to drop in on his first true love to see if a spark still existed, the truth was that he wanted to own up to his guilt, from originally dumping her, and to ask her forgiveness so that he could finally close that chapter of his life in peace and move on with his life. Throughout the movie, as he reflected on the intense love he had for her (resulting in some very long and slow-moving scenes), the guilt he had held for all those years was quite apparent and I speculate that it might have had an impact on the character's marriage which, of course, ended up in divorce. This was an avenue Christiano failed to go down far enough ... apart from the ex-wife looking elsewhere for love. Why did she ... because was promiscuous ... because he was day-dreaming about his first love and not focusing on his marriage??? In the end, the main character, as well as the lady (played by Stacey J. Aswad whose acting I thoroughly enjoyed) he met in the divorcee group meeting, finally appear ready to build on their friendship (we never find out but can assume that outcome is possible). I would like to think so, given the support, loyalty and patience she showed with him, but clearly that outcome was not an important requirement for Christiano to include.
I can empathize with Christiano, and the message he attempted to deliver, but question the effectiveness of using the big screen as a means to deliver that message. It's obvious that his message was lost on many folks and I believe he could have had better results simply focusing a 30-minute episode of his "7th Street Theater" show on this subject (shown on TBN which regularly features Stacey J.). As of today, at Yahoo Movies, the movie only yielded $84,000 in ticket sales. Given that paltry sum for what must have been a significant investment, I only hope he achieved some return of investment, spiritually if not financially. Bottom line is I appreciated the message he was trying to communicate; however, he should rethink investing so much time and money into a story that doesn't have enough substance to sustain the interest of the viewer for the duration of an average movie ... in a Hollywood environment no less! Try it in an episode of "7th Street Theater" next time! |
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