Thank you Well Go USA Entertainment for sending us this DVD to review!

My Many Sons tells the true story of Don Meyer (played by Judge Reinhold), the “winningest coach that nobody knew.”  In 2009 Don Meyer passed Bobby Knight’s NCAA winning record and held it until 2012.  Coach Meyer’s dedication and work ethic helped put Lipscomb University on the map and because of him, they were able to move up to division one basketball.  Despite the university offering to double his salary, coach Meyer refused to coach division one basketball since he was investing more into the students than basketball skills.  

Besides teaching the students valuable basketball maneuvers, he taught them to be accountable, respectable and to clean up after themselves and to pick up litter.  Like many coaches, Don threw verbal taunts like calling them numb nuts. No other foul language was used in this film though.  On a few occasions he got physical with them and had to apologize for his actions.  He was not an easy man to get along with and was known for culling the weak links from his team relatively quickly.  After his first month at Northern University in South Dakota, Don only had seven players left on his team!  

Though his team didn’t lose very often, they found out that coach Meyer took to their losses pretty well. He didn’t rub it in any further since they did a pretty good enough of a job to themselves.  Don promised to be there for his students when things got rough and he kept his promise.  During his near fatal car accident, his students return the favor and visited while he was recuperating in the hospital for nearly two months.  When he was released, he showed up at work the next morning! 

While not perfect by any means, Don Meyer was a faithful and self-less man that wasn’t shy about his faith and work ethic.  He has touched the lives of many and his story is a good one that’s worth seeing.  Even though I’m not into basketball, I enjoyed this sports-themed movie that tells a great story of perseverance.  This ninety-eight minute film can be yours for less than $12 on Amazon.

Thank you Cinedigm for sending us a DVD to review!

In-Lawfully Yours is a Christian themed romantic comedy that stars and is produced by Corbin Bernsen.  Not only does it have a unique love story, there’s a positive message about God’s love and redemption.  This is another Christian movie that pleasantly surprised us with some funny moments and a good story.

Upon receiving the news of her father-in-law’s illness, Jesse went to inform her husband, Charlie.   Once she tracked him down, she caught him in the arms of another woman.  Divorce paperwork and the death of his father soon followed.  Charlie’s mother, Naomi, takes the loss pretty hard as she lost her daughter six years prior.  Packing up and moving out of her mostly empty house is not something she’s looking forward to, but her son is pushing her so she can move in with him.  Prepping to leave this small town behind she starts packing her things with Jesse’s help.

Jesse is from New York and is not familiar with how quickly rumors spread around small towns.   Besides the humorous and unwelcome treatment she gets at the only restaurant in town, Jesse is also treated rudely when visiting the local church for the first time in her life.  She has many faith questions and learns the hard way that it’s not proper to interrupt the pastor during his sermon to ask them.  The pastor, Ben, is her widowed ex-brother in-law who still wears his wedding ring. 

At first the relationship between Ben and Jesse is awkward, but it doesn’t take long for them to realize that it has some potential.  However, before things get too serious Charlie comes back into town stating that he wants to fix his marriage.  Is Charlie truly changed, jealous, or is he up to no good?  To find out Charlie’s true intentions and the future of Ben and Jesse’s relationship, I recommend watching In-Lawfully Yours which can be yours for less than $15 on Amazon.

Thank you Air Bud Entertainment for sending us a screener link!

Reality singing shows like American Idol and The Voice are enjoyed by many humans.  With the help of Evolution treats, dogs have gained the ability to talk, sing, and enjoy competing in their own singing show titled Pup Star.  The contestants must sing original songs and are judged by canine judges with similar names and personalities of their human counterparts.  The judges’ names are Blake Sheltie, Dog Gnarly, Lady Paw Paw, and Simon Growl.  There’s plenty of silliness in this tale of love, revenge, and perseverance.

Tiny is a Yorkie who loves her owner, Lou.  Sadly, Lou lost her mother recently.  Lou and Tiny sing together and encourage each other to follow their dreams.  Tiny competes in Chicago’s audition’s for Pup Star and gets the golden bone and a chance to compete in the finals that take place in New York City.  Lou has to get her father’s permission to take her there though.  Sadly, the trip planning gets postponed due to Lou running into a truck and breaking her arm and Tiny getting dognapped by Roland, the greedy owner of Happy Ranch kennel.  

In the kennel Tiny learns that Roland only releases dogs that have a reward on them and that if they’re not claimed within a year they’ll be put down.  A dog named Charlie is nearing his execution date but has an escape plan and begrudgingly takes Tiny along with him.  As Tiny and Charlie travel to New Orleans, New Jersey, and New York they learn about love, friendship, and infusing their experiences into the songs that they sing.

Charlie has a bone to pick with the current Pup Star champion, Bark, and wants to pay him back for stealing his music without giving him proper credit for it.  Along the way Tiny gets to meet Charlie’s love interest and her personal idol, Emily Rose.  With all of the help and support of friends Tiny has what it takes to dethrone Bark, but needs to get past Kano the bounty hunter that’s after her.  I’ll leave the rest of the movie a surprise as it’s worth checking out.

Thank you Cinedigm for sending us this DVD to review!

Many of us have lied or made mistakes before.  Fortunately for us, our misdeeds are not recorded in the Bible.  Luke 22:54-62 recounts Peter denying that he knew Jesus three times, just as Jesus predicted.  After Jesus’ resurrection He restores Peter by having Him affirm him three times in John 21:15-19.  The movie Peter: The Redemption depicts Peter living his final months in a Roman jail and refusing to confess to burning down the city under Nero’s rule.  Despite being given several opportunities to recant his faith, Peter holds firm and refuses to deny Jesus any more in his lifetime.  Unfortunately, several other Christians are persecuted and tortured as a result.

There are many bloody and uncomfortable scenes as Christians are seen getting beaten and bloodied.  For this reason, younger children should probably refrain from seeing this film.  Fortunately, the scenes with them being set on fire are not shown, but the screams of torture still hit home.  Many popular actors are in this ninety-minute film including John Rhys-Davies as Peter and Stephen Baldwin as Nero.  

Besides the story of Peter’s strong faith, there is a budding romance between a dedicated Roman soldier named Martinian and a palace servant, Suzanna, who is tending to Peter’s many wounds.  Suzanna is a Christian and is treading on thin ice as Nero detests Christians and enjoys using them as torches to illuminate his garden.  To make matters worse Nero takes a liking to her and his wife is extremely jealous.

I won’t spoil this movie, but unlike many Christian films out there, Peter The Redemption tells a good story about faith, love, forgiveness, and perseverance.   Not all of the believers keep their faith as some of the prisoners recant to regain their freedom.  However, others die for their faith and those strong Christians inspire unlikely individuals to become saved and get baptized in Jesus’ name.   

Thank you Broadgreen for sending us this DVD to review!

The fourth chapter in the book of Matthew mentions Jesus going into the wilderness to be tempted and fasting for forty days and nights.  The Bible tells about three of the temptations, but the movie Last Days In The Desert uses some artistic license to add many more.    The beginning of this hour and thirty-eight minute movie is a bit slow starting as it shows the “Holy man” as He’s referred to wandering aimlessly in the desert.  You’ll see Him sleeping and hear Him praying for guidance to His Heavenly Father and even laughing at the wind blowing sticks around.  Later on in the film He laughs at a fart too.

While He’s never called Jesus, Satan who is also played by Ewan McGregor (He's Jesus too) refers to Him as Yeshua.   Satan takes on many forms, but is most often identical in appearance to Jesus.  One of the forms Satan takes on is that of a topless woman whose hair covers the otherwise  would be seen nipples.  

During Jesus’ fasting in the desert He happens upon a nomad family that is struggling emotionally.  Their mother is deathly ill while the adolescent son and father barely communicate and cannot relate to one another.  The father is a skilled carpenter and wishes for his son to live in the desert with him, but the son longs to set his own destiny in Jerusalem.  The mother wishes for him to fulfill his dreams as well, but the family cannot afford an apprenticeship for him.  

Satan offers a wager to Jesus to fix this family and even tells Him of their future had Jesus not crossed paths with them.  I found it odd that Satan could see the future, but Jesus couldn’t in this film.  Jesus was able to foresee many events including His own death (Matt 26:2), betrayal (Matt 26:21), resurrection (Matt 16:21), coming of the Holy Spirit (John 14:26), and even the destruction of Jerusalem (Luke 19:43-44).  Even though Jesus is perceived as weak (despite eating) and doubting of His abilities, there is a decent story about humanity, family, and relationships in this film.  Just don’t expect much Biblical content because much of it goes against God’s word.   

Thank you BH Impact for sending us this DVD to review!

Most Christians are familiar with Mary’s role in submitting to God’s will and bringing our savior into this world.  She agreed to carry the Lord’s child knowing that her future marriage and life would be endangered as a result.   Because of a dream Joseph received from the Lord, he knew that her pregnancy was indeed a miracle and continued the engagement knowing that his reputation would suffer as a result.  The movie Joseph and Mary doesn’t focus on the angelic visit and begins with Joseph (Kevin Sorbo) crafting a wooden cradle for their future baby.  

While the Bible doesn’t specify the ages of Mary and Joseph, I’m willing to bet that they were much younger than the actors used to play their roles in this film.  I’m also willing to wager that they were not Caucasian either.   The miscasting continues in the temple scene with Simeon and Anna. Their actors are much too young for their roles.  Both of them were promised to see the Messiah before they died and Anna was in her eighties when she saw baby Jesus.

The acting is still decent regardless of their ages and the main story of the revenge seeking rabbi, Elijah, is pretty good.  King Herod’s taxes are causing an uproar and people who resist paying taxes are made examples of.  Rebekah’s husband, Aaron, is killed in front of her despite Elijah’s attempts of appeasing the tax collector.  The husband’s dying wish is that Elijah takes care of his wife and he does so.  Her oldest son grows fond of Elijah and they become a family.  That is until Herod demands the deaths of young male children.  Rebekah vows vengeance on the soldier that carried out Herod’s orders on her family and she pressures Elijah into killing him on her behalf.

Elijah refers to the Deuteronomy 19 verse 21 which states a life for a life and an eye for an eye for agreeing to kill this legionnaire.  Joseph is trying to convince Elijah to forgive the man and have compassion on him instead.  As Jesus grows up and speaks in the temple, Elijah is convinced that there’s something different about this child and starts to believe that He’s the Messiah.  Can he accept Christ’s teachings and learn to forgive?  I’ll leave the rest for you see for yourself in this hour and twenty-two-minute film.

Thank you Public Media Distribution for sending us this DVD to review!

The BFG (Big Friendly Giant) book written by Roald Dahl came out in 1982 and the ninety-minute film adaptation was released in 1989.  This 2016 version has been digitally restored and comes with a before and after special feature so you can see the difference in real time.  Another added bonus is a documentary on Roald Dahl.  

The rest of this timeless classic remains the same where a young orphan girl named Sophie is woken up in the middle of the night and sees something peculiar.    There is a giant wandering around the town and is blowing something into the windows of her neighbors.  After she’s been spotted, the giant reaches into the orphanage, grabs Sophie, and takes her to his world of giants.

Sophie is afraid that the giant will eat her, but unlike the others, BFG does not eat humans.  He shares with her some of his other foods which are quite different from our world.  One of the beverages he offers her has the bubbles going down instead of up and as a result instead of burping, this drink causes the drinker to whizzpop/fart.  Needless to say that this song and other flatulence based humor in this film brought smiles and laughter out of my children.

The dated visuals are noticeable, but don’t detract from the story of friendship and courage.  There is also a good message about not judging people by their appearance and tolerating language mishaps.  Overall, my family enjoyed this film and look forward to watching the live action remake.  

Thank you MarVista for sending us a screener of this movie to review!

This one hour and nineteen-minute movie is based off of the popular book series by Megan McCafferty.  The main character is Jessica Darling who is about to enter seventh grade and wants to start off on the right foot.  Her older sister with a passion for fashion gave Jessica a list of four things to do to be popular in junior high.  Here’s the contents of her sister’s “It List”:

1. Wear something different every day

2. Make the cheer team

3. Pick your first boyfriend wisely

Thank you Click Communications for sending us this DVD to review!

The original Kindergarten Cop starring Arnold Schwarzenegger came out in 1990 and was an instant classic.  Unfortunately, things have changed a lot since then and this sequel reflects many of those differences with the modern day kindergarten students.  One of the students is gluten free while another has peanut allergies.  The upscale private school that this movie takes place in caters to all religions and sexual orientations.  Not surprisingly, one of the students has two moms and a distrust for men.  Gone are time-outs and sitting “Indian style”; it’s now called “criss cross applesauce “ as the undercover FBI agent, Mr. Reed, soon learns. 

Mr. Reed (Dolph Lundgren) is a well-built ladies man that has no experience with children.  Reed’s partner (Bill Bellamy), has five kids and offers to help Reed, but he’s too proud to accept it.  To complicate matters, agent Reed has a tendency to fall for women while undercover, and this mission is no exception.  The other kindergarten teacher is attractive and nice and may have some information on the hidden flash drive that has the FBI’s data on it.  

The FBI aren’t the only ones after the stolen witness protection database as the syndicate boss, Zogu, seeks to silence a witness that is listed in it.  Time is running out and the FBI agents have to earn the kids' trust to uncover the secret location of the flash drive hidden somewhere on the school grounds.  

One would assume that a movie about kindergarten students would be safe for the whole family to watch.  Sadly, it’s not.  This 140-minute film is rated PG-13 and has some sexual references, violence, and plenty of blaspheming along with foul language.  Pretty much every cuss word is used with exception to the F-bomb.

Thank you Disney for sending us this Blu-ray to review!

The Finest Hours is based on a true story and is considered to be the most heroic rescue in Coast Guard history.  The main character, Bernie Weber (Chris Pine), is a Coast Guard crewman who follows the rulebook and knows all of the regulations.  He’s very familiar with the ocean and knows how dangerous the bar can be to cross during nice weather, let alone during a severe winter storm.  When he was sent to assist the crew of the SS Pendleton, which split in half on February 18th, 1952, he did not hesitate knowing full well that this was a suicide mission.  It was up to Bernie and his crew to attempt to rescue the stranded men since all of the other Coast Guard ships were assisting another split oil tanker, the SS Fort Mercer.

The tiny rescue boat defied all odds and reached the SS Pendleton despite missing crucial navigational equipment.  The next hurdle was bringing the thirty-two rescued men to safety on a boat that’s designed to carry twelve.  Some tough decisions had to be made, but they paid off in the end.  I won’t spoil any of the details because I recommend watching this thrilling movie.

Although The Finest Hours is a Disney movie, it is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of peril.  There are some deaths and injuries shown and one of the characters cusses (d*mn).  Other than those issues, this movie is safe for most audiences.  

The acting was good and I recognized some of the actors in this film.  There were some blue visual artifacts and other inconsistencies that I noticed, but they didn’t detract from the story in any way.  For example, sometimes Bernie’s nose would be pink from the cold and a few frames later it was back to normal and then suddenly pink again.  

Thank you Click Communications for sending us this DVD to review!

Lego Star Wars: Droid Tales first aired on Disney XD in the summer of 2015.  With its recent DVD release, everyone can now enjoy the retelling of the Star Wars saga from C-3PO and R2-D2’s perspective.  The overarching story is that R2-D2 has been kidnapped and while chasing after his captor C-3PO recalls and shares his adventures with different audience groups during some downtime.  This 115-minute DVD is broken down into five episodes and here’s a quick summary of each one:

Exit from Endor – The victorious rebels are celebrating and Luke Skywalker sees the ghosts of Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Mace Windu.  At the campfire,C-3PO recalls the story of Anakin’s childhood and run in with Qui-Gon Jinn and Queen Amidala.  Extra comedy is added into the retelling of The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones including several severe injuries of Jar-Jar Binks and Darth Maul’s overuse of the word awesome.

Crisis on Coruscant – While still tracking down R2-D2’s whereabouts, C-3PO shares his version of what happened in Revenge of the Sith.  General Grievous and Count Dooku “kidnap” the emperor in order to lure Anakin to join the dark side.  Darth Vader makes his appearance in this episode.  On a lighter note, Yoda’s line, “Oh heck what the” cracked us all up.

Mission to Mos Eisley – C-3PO heads to Tatooine to track down R2-D2.  He reminisces about A New Hope where he and R2-D2 are sold to Luke Skywalker after all of the other robots scavenged by the Jawas mysteriously break during their inspection.  Luke Skywalker begins his Jedi training with Obi-Wan and Yoda and later destroys the Death Star.  At the end of this episode, C-3PO reunites with Chewbacca and continues his quest of rescuing R2-D2 from his mysterious captor.

Thank you Anthem Productions for sending us this Blu-Ray to review!

My All American is based off of the book Courage Beyond the Game: The Freddie Steinmark Story written by Jim Dent.  Both the book and movie are based on a true story about a young man who lived for playing football.   Freddie wasn’t very tall for a football player, measuring in at 5’ 9”, and as a result not many colleges responded to his applications for scholarships.  Some of his taller friends had no trouble hearing back from prestigious colleges.  Freddie compensated for his height with speed and strength and was a very talented safety.

His high school coach saw his potential and worked him pretty hard.  After school’s training, Freddie’s father worked him even harder!  Freddie was very disciplined physically, academically, and spiritually by praying and attending mass daily.  Due to financial constraints Freddie’s family was relying on his football skills to land him a scholarship to pay for his college tuition.  Despite the lack of responses from colleges, Freddie and his family did not give up.  

Freddie’s high school coach put in a good word for him and one of his taller friends to University of Texas’ coach Royal.  Freddie was finally given a scholarship and a chance to show his prowess on the field.  Instead of taking the credit, Freddie said it was an answered prayer.   Getting the scholarship was half the battle, maintaining it is even harder.  Freddie survived the cuts that weeded out half of the prospective players.

Despite having some leg pain, Freddie didn’t let it stop him from achieving his goals.  His dedication and skills set him apart on the field and his efforts made the 1969 Texas Longhorns national champions.  Once they won the “Game of the Century” that was attended by Richard Nixon, Freddie got his leg examined by a doctor and the diagnosis was startling.  

Thank you Falco Ink For sending us a screener of this movie!

When Joel Evan Green was a one-year-old, he had brain tumors and was only given four months to live.  His parents had a choice.  They could distance themselves and prepare for his death, or celebrate each day of his life.  While the tumors came and went with chemotherapy, Joel lived a few more years and was showered with love each and every one of those days.  Throughout Joel’s treatment, his parents documented their journey for this documentary and their game immortalizing Joel’s battle with “That Dragon, Cancer”.  

Both the film and the game capture the struggles and testing of the family’s faith and hope for saving their son’s life.  Lots of emotions are shown and they’re all genuine.  A couple of swear words are said so keep that in mind for younger audiences.   

It was really neat to see the behind the scenes discussions and work put into the making of “That Dragon, Cancer.”   Ryan and Amy Green worked together on the script and their sons lended their voice talents in the game as well.  While the laughs in the game are Joel’s, the crying is not.  

Thank you Cinedigm for sending us this movie to review!

Does a Bible Club belong in a public school?  That’s the premise of the movie God’s Club.  Christine Evans was getting pushback from launching God’s Club at the Echo Grove high school in Vermont.  This small community has a number of outspoken (and often jerkish) atheist families who are trying to stop the club from launching.   Her husband reluctantly supports her efforts, but doesn’t get too involved until she dies suddenly. 

Michael Evans (Stephen Baldwin) takes his wife’s death pretty badly and holes himself up in his house for twelve weeks (often wearing the same shirt).  His nearly angelic teenage daughter tried to get him out of the house without much success.  One of his colleagues (Corbin Bernsen) pays him a friendly visit and reminds him that he could lose his job altogether if he doesn’t return to work soon.  To inspire him, he suggests that Michael launches the Bible club in his wife’s honor. And he does so, not anticipating the uphill battles ahead.

At first the Bible club has a few members and a couple of them joined up just to heckle the teacher.  Other students are positively impacted by the gospel and it stirs up trouble with their non-believing parents.  One of the parents is a lawyer (Lorenzo Lamas) and is looking for any creative way to shut down the club for good.  Some of the students resort to vandalism to let God’s Club know that they are not welcome as well.

With so much stacked against them, Michael and his daughter press on with the club realizing that their lives, jobs, and reputations are on the line.  But their faith is strong and unwavering as Psalm 62 proclaims.  Other verses quoted include Mark 11:25 and Romans 8:28.

Thank you Cinedigm for sending us this DVD to review!

Our family has watched many faith-based movies and most of them show the biblical figures as upright, holy, and serious.  While those films don’t stray from the Bible and teach valuable lessons, they are often hard to relate to in modern times.  Noah’s Ark (which originally aired on BBC television) changes that formula by telling a well-known story with a modern twist and personable characters.  Although Noah was close to 600 years old (Gen 7:6), he is shown as being a fit man who joins his sons (Ham, Shem, Japeth) in diving, swimming, rough housing and some joking around.  

Besides the added dialog, there are some new characters brought into the story including an adopted son named Kenan.  Ham, Shem, and Japeth are all married though having grandkids is a little challenging for them since everyone is all living and sleeping in close proximity.  Some of the couples are discussing the lack of privacy and the need to move out to start their own families.  Kenan is nearly eighteen and falls in love with a non-believing girl in the nearby town.  He sneaks out to go partying with her almost every night.

The townspeople are shown as evil with implied pedophilia and valuing science over an all-powerful and loving God.  Some of the arguments made by the townspeople are the same as those used by modern day skeptics.  Instead of being told directly by God (Gen 6:13), an angelic messenger is sent to Noah to build an ark for the upcoming flood.

I love how this film depicts his family’s (realistic) reactions to such a bold mission.  Having not seen rainfall in over a year, the family is doubtful to say the least.  Noah keeps his faith and embarks on building the ark on his own.  His family slowly comes around, but when Noah tries to warn the townspeople, they nearly kill him.  Some do come around and join him on the ark before the storm comes. A couple of Bible discrepancies include Genesis 7:7 stating that it was only Noah’s family onboard, and God shut the ark’s door (Gen 7:16) instead of Noah.

Thank you Airbud Entertainment for sending us this DVD, shirts, a mini barrel of monkeys game, some coupons for free rice and a monkey bag to carry it all in!  

My kids were excited to see this movie, especially after meeting its star actor, Crystal, the monkey who plays Monty in Monkey Up.  Crystal is 22 years old and has been in several movies including Dr. Dolittle 1&2, Night at the Museum, Zoo Keeper, George of the Jungle and many of the Buddies movies including Treasure Buddies, Spooky Buddies, and Super Buddies.  Monkey Up is her first movie where she takes the lead role.

Monkey Up is about an egotistical talking monkey, Monty, who is full of himself and wants to become a big time movie star instead of being the spokesperson for Monkey Up, a sugary energy soft drink.  Monty hears about an upcoming movie role, but the director would rather use a CGI monkey instead of one that’s full of himself and doesn’t know the first thing about family.  Instead of heading back to his trainer to do more commercials, he runs away and hides in a doll house.  

The doll house is delivered that night to a girl named Sophie whose family is a bit dysfunctional with her father switching jobs and her mother putting her career above her family’s needs. Her brother Ethan is nice to her, but is more interested in getting to know their new neighbor girl than spending time with her.  

Thank you Brigade Marketing for sending us a screener of this short film to review!

Waves ’98 is a short film (15 minutes in length) that takes place in Beirut in 1998. Omar is a teenager that is depressed with all of the somber news, his parent’s financial situation, and the rundown neighborhood he lives in.    One of his methods of escape for him is to sit on top of his school’s rooftop to view the parts of the segregated city that he has never seen before.  While he’s outside he’s seen smoking a cigarette, though the vision he sees later makes me wonder if it was just tobacco.

Later Omar is shown riding a scooter and I like how the real life images are blended into the animated environment. The scooter scene is primary real time footage and for once, the animated scenes take a back seat.  The animation becomes front and center again when Omar comes face to face with a giant golden elephant.  Omar enters into the elephant and is joined with a few other teenagers who are looking for a similar escape. 

The friends get to experience fun times at a beach and witness sea creatures swimming in space?  Their time together is short lived as reality creeps back in.  The ending isn’t very clear and had my husband and I scratching our heads and wondering what the overall message was.  Despite the confusing elements and subtitles (the default language is Arabic), we were captivated by the story and neat visual effects.   

If you like short animated films Waves ’98 is worth checking out though I’m not aware of any way to view it in its entirety.  The trailer can be seen at its website.   At the Cannes Film Festival, it was given the Palm D’or which is the highest tier prize awarded.

Thank you Click Communications for sending us this Blu-ray to review!

Bridge of Spies takes place during the Cold War in 1957 and is based on true events.  A Soviet spy has been captured and needs to be tried for his crimes.  The people are afraid of nuclear warfare and want swift and deadly justice to keep our country safe.  But who wants to defend this war criminal?  An insurance lawyer, Jim Donovan, gets the patriotic privilege of being Rudolf Abel’s legal counsel.

Despite his family’s concerns for their reputation and safety, Jim accepts the job and represents Mr. Abel honorably.  In fact, the cards are stacked against Rudolf and some legal shortcuts were taken to get him into court.  Even when the legal discrepancies are brought forward, they are disregarded by the judge.  Jim Donovan doesn’t give up and stands his ground and pleads for the court system to spare Rudolf’s life as a good gesture towards Russia.

While the arraignment proceedings are taking place, a top secret U.S. pilot is shot down in Russia and a U.S. student is captured while being on the wrong side of the newly erected Berlin wall.  Jim Donovan goes above and beyond the call of duty of simply representing Rudolf Abel, and is instrumental in negotiating his safe return to his family.

Without spoiling any more details from the movie, I will say that it’s well worth watching for yourself. When I saw that Bridge of Spies was directed by Steven Spielberg and starred Tom Hanks, I had my expectations set pretty high.  I’m happy to report that I was not disappointed and highly recommend it.  Bridge of Spies is rated PG-13 due to strong language (a few SOB’s and F-bombs) and violence.  There are some emotional scenes with people losing their lives trying to reunite with loved ones on the other side of the Berlin wall.  Anyone who likes movies about war or justice should definitely check out Bridge of Spies.

Thank you Falco Ink for sending us this DVD to review!

David Lyfe had a good life, a nice house, a great job, a pretty wife and daughter, and a baby on the way.  He was a wonderful dad and a loving husband.  Things couldn’t get much better until he found out that his company was merging with another bank.  He detested having to fly out to California to lay off the people he personally hand-picked for that location.  To make matters worse, once that was handled, he was given the same lay-off spiel by his boss! To cope with the news David decided to drown away his sorrows at the hotel bar.

It’s there that he meets a lonely housewife named Amy and they share stories about each other’s life and spouses.  David is happy in his marriage, but Amy is not since her husband doesn’t pay much attention to her and her desire to have kids.  I’d like to say that they parted ways but instead David makes a mistake that will cost him his family, house, and job opportunities.  

When David hits rock bottom, he meets up with a pastor and starts to stay at their homeless shelter.  The pastor’s daughter took an interest in David since she sensed her deceased mother’s “presence” around him and knew that he deserved a second chance.  Can David repent of his sins and regain his wife’s trust and earn her forgiveness?  You’ll have to watch this eighty-two-minute film that has earned Dove awards for yourself.  It’s recommended for audiences that are twelve and older and I agree with that rating.    Although intimacy is not shown, it is implied and there are alcohol references.

Overall I found the movie enjoyable, but predictable.  The acting is decent and the main character is a good guy who makes one mistake and pays dearly for it.  The wife is rightfully hurt and her mother (who was cheated on numerous times) is pushing for her to divorce him.  As a Christian I like the message of redemption, but I’m not so fond of the spiritual sensing that the pastor’s daughter had with the local homeless residents. 

Thank you Anchor Bay for sending us this DVD to review!

Love Finds You in Charm is based on the book Love Finds You in Charm, Ohio by Annalisa Daughety.  It’s about a young Amish woman named Emma Miller who fantasizes about living outside of the Amish community and doesn’t feel like she belongs.  To make matters worse, Emma feels that she is failing as a role model for her younger sister with her reading habits and longing to explore the world before deciding to join the Amish community.  

If Emma chooses to become a member of the Amish church, she has a marriage offer from Jacob who cares for her more than she does for him.

While she has a good life ahead of her in Indiana, Emma can’t help but wonder what the outside world has to offer.  Sensing her discontentment, Emma’s father sends her to her cousin’s farm for the summer to lend a hand during the tourist season.  Her cousin is a recent widow that lives in another Amish community in Charm, Ohio.  Without much hesitation, Emma packs her bags and hops on a train.