Thank you to Alcon Entertainment for sending us this film to review!

I knew nothing about this film when I sat down to watch it, other than the title, which intrigued me.  Telling a lie is rarely a good thing.  Depending on the circumstances a single lie can contain the power to completely destroy your life, not to mention collateral damage caused to others.  Other lies, commonly referred to as "white lies" are generally considered unharmful, focusing on keeping social interactions civil or inoffensive.  "Does this dress make my bum look too big?"  {Slight pause - often without even looking at said dress or it's effect on one's spouse's bum} "NO! Of COURSE not!  You look great!"  The repercussions of a "white lie" may be minor (like having an annoyed spouse for an evening), but that does not mean telling one is "good."

So what kind of lie is a good one?  The film answers this question brilliantly: The kind that saves other people's lives at the risk of your own.  A couple of biblical references to this come to mind immediately.  The most notable is in Exodus Chapter 1 where Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt sees his slave population growing more numerous than his ability to effectively control.  His solution: infanticide.  All baby boys of the Hebrews are sentenced to death by exposure.  Well, the midwives (ladies who are in charge of overseeing births, like Lamaze coaches and nurses combined) take issue with Pharaoh's solution.  But what's a powerless midwife to do when faced with the choice between disobeying the ruler, who will execute you for disobedience as callously as he kills babies, and doing what they know to be the righteous thing?  You lie.  The midwives tell Pharaoh that the Hebrew ladies are so tough that they pop those baby boys out before they even get there.

Woman, "Honey, my water just broke!"

Man, "What do I do?"

My wife and I, a few scant days prior to V-day, sat down and watched a film that is new on DVD called, "The Song."  It is produced by AFFIRM Films, a subsidiary of Sony Entertainment and I believe it was released straight to DVD and digital download.  It was newly released, coming out on the 10th of February.

So, what were my expectations going in to what I predicted to be a Christian-themed "chick-flick" almost strong-armed upon me by my wife?  Well, I expected a cookie-cutter predicable plot with cliche-ridden sappy dialogue; or the usual experience of such films as "the Notebook," "Sleepless in Seattle", or even (heaven help me) "The Proposal."  Thankfully, I was quite surprised.

"The Song" may be a comedy in the literary sense, but it is not a "romantic comedy" in the vein of "The Proposal" (or any other Sandra Bullock film), "50 First Dates" (or any other Adam Sandler film), or "Runaway Bride" (or any other Julia Roberts film).  Instead, the closest film I could compare it to would be "Walk the Line."  It's much more dramatic than any romantic comedy I've ever seen, with a depth of character that isn't really found in most rom-coms.

"Do you Believe" is a film from Pure Flix, the creators of "God's Not Dead," about how 12 people's lives are changed and impacted by a small number of people truly living out their faith.  This was a very ambitious story which took at least 6 different story lines and wove them together.  The result was an impressive and inspirational film that I genuinely enjoyed.  

It's set in Chicago, with many areas of the city clearly recognizable to those of us who have lived there.  The film opens with a man wheeling a wooden cross down the street asking people he meets if they believe in the cross of Christ.  This man is unnamed, and never seen again until after the resolution of the movie, but it is ultimately his action that sparks the chain reaction in the various stories through the movie.

There are 12 main characters in this movie, but its easier to think of them as groups of two or three or four.  These groupings form the heart of the story, since all the groupings are based on the needs that the group exhibits.  These needs are then met at the end as a result of the active faith of the members within the group.

This movie deals with issues of illness, barrenness, the loss of a child, abortion, adoption, homelessness, crime, murder, suicide, PTSD, and workplace evangelism in the lives of the characters.  It does a very good job of making these issues real for the people involved, and reveals the miraculous handiwork of God in resolving those issues.  Not all of the issues are resolved at the end.  The movie makes it clear that faith is not a cure-all for every circumstance in life, but it can empower you to live your life not as a victim, but as a faithful believer.