DO YOU BELIEVE
DIRECTOR: Jonathan M Gunn
CAST: Mira Sorvino, Sean Astin, Cybil Shepherd, Delroy Lindo, Lee Majors, Ted McGinley, Delroy Lindo
CLASSIFICATION: 7-9 PG V
RUNNING TIME: 120 minutes
RATING: **
The latest faith-based movie from the producers and screenwriters of God’s Not Dead begins with a biblical quote: “Faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.” It then proceeds to belabour that undeniably worthy lesson for the better part of two hours.
Uncomfortably aping Paul Haggis’ Crash, Do You Believe? presents the interconnected stories of 12 souls, I mean characters, whose lives are affected by a pastor, Matthew (McGinley), who hands out tiny wooden crosses and advises his parishioners to do good deeds. He was inspired to do so by a street-corner preacher (Lindo) carrying a cross.
We’re then introduced to the homeless Samantha (Sorvino) and her daughter, Lily (Makenzie Moss), who are befriended by church janitor Joe (Brian Bosworth), whose cough doesn’t signify anything good; middle-aged couple JD (Majors) and Teri ( Shepherd), still mourning the loss of their daughter to a drunken driver years earlier; EMT Bobby (Liam Matthews), who proselytises to a dying man and faces losing his job for it; his wife Elena (Valerie Dominguez), a nurse who works alongside a doctor (Astin) who resents God being given credit for his efforts; her ex-soldier brother Carlos (Joseph Julian Soria), suffering from post-traumatic stress; the suicidal Lacey (Alexa PenaVega); and Pretty Boy (Schwayze), who becomes spiritually born again after a robbery.
Director Jonathan M Gunn and screenwriters Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon are hard-pressed to provide the superfluous characters and situations sufficient depth, with the proceedings featuring enough melodramatic plot developments and homilies to fuel a religious soap opera.
Even the more interesting storylines, most notably the one involving the EMT who refuses to denounce his faith at the risk of financial ruin, are undermined by too many coincidences. For example, the lawyer suing him is the doctor’s wife (Andreas Logan White).
It all culminates in a multi-vehicle pile-up on a bridge near a giant cross, with one car dangling over the water, a teen giving birth and the EMT rescuing the lawyer who threatened his job, not to mention a character who had been declared dead by a doctor eight minutes earlier coming back to life miraculously.
The filmmakers have delivered an effort with solid production values and a cast stuffed with familiar stars giving performances fully committed to the agenda-spouting material.
If you liked God’s Not Dead, you will like this.
The Hollywood Reporter