ART HOUSE OFFERINGS: The Second Chance
THE SECOND CHANCE (2006)
My Rating: *** ½ (out of *****)
Starring: Jeff Obafemi Carr, Michael W. Smith, J. Don Ferguson
Director: Steve Taylor
My Review:
Christian movies get a bad rap. And in all cases that I’ve seen up to now (with the exception of 1975’s The Hiding Place starring Julie Harris), they deserve that reputation and then some. Just the idea of “films” like The Omega Code, Carman: The Champion, or Left Behind gives me a distinct feeling of nausea. So, when a movie like The Second Chance comes along, complete with Christian music icon Michael W. Smith in tow (who has never acted up to this point), it is only natural to be very, very concerned.
As it turns out, The Second Chance, directed by 90s Christian music wild child Steve Taylor, is a powerful, insightful film that actually would have been muted in its effectiveness had it been made by any other than the Christian culture insiders who put it together.
The story concerns two very different pastors: Ethan Jenkins (Smith, not too bad as it turns out), a hotshot, up-and-coming young pastor at a polished suburban mega-church founded by his father, and Jake Sanders (Carr), a moody, impassioned minister at a small, poor, urban church that also happens to have been established by Ethan’s father (a sturdy J. Don Ferguson). The story gets going when Ethan, who is being punished for taking a risk in the pulpit of his church, is sent to work with Jake in the inner city in hopes that he will “learn his lesson.” Jake, who couldn’t be less enthused about the arrangement, reluctantly agrees.
The resulting changes of heart that each of these men of God experience are, to say the least, predictable. However, director Steve Taylor conquers the overly familiar with a steady dose of refreshing authenticity. These characters and situations could have easily fallen into cliché, but thankfully, they do not. Jake and Ethan are real people with strengths, weaknesses, prejudices, flaws, talents, and most of all, human hearts. Two sequences of particular emotional power come to mind, one involving a janitor’s humility and the other a seemingly defeated Jake’s shift of focus from the “Plymouth Rock” of oppression to the Rock of Ages.
Social, political, and religious issues are all touched upon (and in some cases, danced around) in this film, and while Taylor certainly takes risks on some things, he seems to play it safe on others. For example, Taylor vividly displays the truth that, in order to live out Christ’s call to love and serve others, we have to get involved and be willing to dirty our hands a bit. On the other hand, he waffles when addressing the urgent issues of race and socioeconomic status that pervade this film. Ultimately, the director does himself and the audience a great favor by bringing it all together with the essential reminder that, for the Christian, the final source and solution for all concerns lies in the person of Jesus Christ. All else, even the good things, fall short.
For people who don’t follow Christ, The Second Chance can provide an interesting and often incisive look into some of the most pressing issues of the Christian church culture that doesn’t disrespect its subjects in the process (as so many Hollywood films do). For those who do believe, this movie offers a refreshing and encouraging challenge to “work out your salvation with reverence and awe and trembling” because it is “God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.”
My Rating: *** ½ (out of *****)
Starring: Jeff Obafemi Carr, Michael W. Smith, J. Don Ferguson
Director: Steve Taylor
My Review:
Christian movies get a bad rap. And in all cases that I’ve seen up to now (with the exception of 1975’s The Hiding Place starring Julie Harris), they deserve that reputation and then some. Just the idea of “films” like The Omega Code, Carman: The Champion, or Left Behind gives me a distinct feeling of nausea. So, when a movie like The Second Chance comes along, complete with Christian music icon Michael W. Smith in tow (who has never acted up to this point), it is only natural to be very, very concerned.
As it turns out, The Second Chance, directed by 90s Christian music wild child Steve Taylor, is a powerful, insightful film that actually would have been muted in its effectiveness had it been made by any other than the Christian culture insiders who put it together.
The story concerns two very different pastors: Ethan Jenkins (Smith, not too bad as it turns out), a hotshot, up-and-coming young pastor at a polished suburban mega-church founded by his father, and Jake Sanders (Carr), a moody, impassioned minister at a small, poor, urban church that also happens to have been established by Ethan’s father (a sturdy J. Don Ferguson). The story gets going when Ethan, who is being punished for taking a risk in the pulpit of his church, is sent to work with Jake in the inner city in hopes that he will “learn his lesson.” Jake, who couldn’t be less enthused about the arrangement, reluctantly agrees.
The resulting changes of heart that each of these men of God experience are, to say the least, predictable. However, director Steve Taylor conquers the overly familiar with a steady dose of refreshing authenticity. These characters and situations could have easily fallen into cliché, but thankfully, they do not. Jake and Ethan are real people with strengths, weaknesses, prejudices, flaws, talents, and most of all, human hearts. Two sequences of particular emotional power come to mind, one involving a janitor’s humility and the other a seemingly defeated Jake’s shift of focus from the “Plymouth Rock” of oppression to the Rock of Ages.
Social, political, and religious issues are all touched upon (and in some cases, danced around) in this film, and while Taylor certainly takes risks on some things, he seems to play it safe on others. For example, Taylor vividly displays the truth that, in order to live out Christ’s call to love and serve others, we have to get involved and be willing to dirty our hands a bit. On the other hand, he waffles when addressing the urgent issues of race and socioeconomic status that pervade this film. Ultimately, the director does himself and the audience a great favor by bringing it all together with the essential reminder that, for the Christian, the final source and solution for all concerns lies in the person of Jesus Christ. All else, even the good things, fall short.
For people who don’t follow Christ, The Second Chance can provide an interesting and often incisive look into some of the most pressing issues of the Christian church culture that doesn’t disrespect its subjects in the process (as so many Hollywood films do). For those who do believe, this movie offers a refreshing and encouraging challenge to “work out your salvation with reverence and awe and trembling” because it is “God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.”
PG-13, for thematic elements, some language, a moment of violence, and drug references
posted by Drew Miller at
7:28 PM
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