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===Critical reception===
===Critical reception===
Numerous sources have cited the film's similarities to a popular [[urban legend]]. The basic structure -that of a Christian student debating an atheist professor and winning in front of the class- has been the subject of at least two popular legends and a popular [[Chick tract]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Malice of Absence|url=http://www.snopes.com/religion/einstein.asp|work=snopes.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Dropped Chalk|url=http://www.snopes.com/religion/chalk.asp|work=snopes.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title='Noah' Washes Away Competition At The Box Office|url=http://www.etonline.com/movies/144928_Noah_Washes_Away_Competition_At_The_Box_Office/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=“God’s Not Dead,” But this Trope Is|url=http://www.patheos.com/blogs/christandpopculture/2013/10/gods-not-dead-but-this-trope-is/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=If an Anti-Atheist Story on Snopes Were Made Into a Film, It’d Be This One|url=http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/09/10/if-an-anti-atheist-story-on-snopes-were-made-into-a-film-itd-be-this-one/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Big Daddy?|url=http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0055/0055_01.asp}}</ref>

The film has been panned by critics, currently holding a score of 16/100 on [[Metacritic]] indicating 'Overwhelming Dislike' based on 5 critics.<ref>[http://www.metacritic.com/movie/gods-not-dead Metacritic]</ref> It also holds a 20% favorable rating on [[Rotten Tomatoes]] yet has an 87% favorable audience rating. <ref>[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gods_not_dead/ Rotten Tomatoes]</ref> Writing for ''[[The A.V. Club]]'', Todd VanDerWerff gave the film a D-, saying "Even by the rather lax standards of the Christian film industry, God's Not Dead is a disaster. It's an uninspired amble past a variety of Christian-email-forward boogeymen that feels far too long at just 113 minutes".<ref>[http://www.avclub.com/review/gods-not-dead-mess-even-christian-film-standards-202571? The A.V. Club]</ref> Reviewer Scott Foundas of ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' wrote "...even grading on a generous curve, this strident melodrama about the insidious efforts of America's university system to silence true believers on campus is about as subtle as a stack of Bibles falling on your head...".<ref>[http://variety.com/2014/film/reviews/film-review-gods-not-dead-1201142881 Variety]</ref> Steve Pulaski of ''[[Influx Magazine]]'', however, was less critical of the film, giving it a C+ and stating "''God's Not Dead'' has issues, many of them easy to spot and heavily distracting. However, it's surprisingly effective in terms of message, acting, and insight, which are three fields Christian cinema seems to struggle with the most".<ref>[http://influxmagazine.com/gods-not-dead/ Influxmagazine.com]</ref>
The film has been panned by critics, currently holding a score of 16/100 on [[Metacritic]] indicating 'Overwhelming Dislike' based on 5 critics.<ref>[http://www.metacritic.com/movie/gods-not-dead Metacritic]</ref> It also holds a 20% favorable rating on [[Rotten Tomatoes]] yet has an 87% favorable audience rating. <ref>[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gods_not_dead/ Rotten Tomatoes]</ref> Writing for ''[[The A.V. Club]]'', Todd VanDerWerff gave the film a D-, saying "Even by the rather lax standards of the Christian film industry, God's Not Dead is a disaster. It's an uninspired amble past a variety of Christian-email-forward boogeymen that feels far too long at just 113 minutes".<ref>[http://www.avclub.com/review/gods-not-dead-mess-even-christian-film-standards-202571? The A.V. Club]</ref> Reviewer Scott Foundas of ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' wrote "...even grading on a generous curve, this strident melodrama about the insidious efforts of America's university system to silence true believers on campus is about as subtle as a stack of Bibles falling on your head...".<ref>[http://variety.com/2014/film/reviews/film-review-gods-not-dead-1201142881 Variety]</ref> Steve Pulaski of ''[[Influx Magazine]]'', however, was less critical of the film, giving it a C+ and stating "''God's Not Dead'' has issues, many of them easy to spot and heavily distracting. However, it's surprisingly effective in terms of message, acting, and insight, which are three fields Christian cinema seems to struggle with the most".<ref>[http://influxmagazine.com/gods-not-dead/ Influxmagazine.com]</ref>


Revision as of 04:13, 2 April 2014

This article is about the film. For the Newsboys album, see God's Not Dead.
God's Not Dead
Theatrical released poster
Directed byHarold Cronk
Written byCary Solomon
Chuck Konzelman
StarringShane Harper
Kevin Sorbo
Jim Gleason
David A.R. White
Marco Khan
Dean Cain
Paul Kwo
Edited byVance Null
Music byWill Musser
Production
companies
Pure Flix Entertainment
Red Entertainment Group
Distributed byPure Flix Entertainment
Release date
  • March 21, 2014 (2014-03-21)
Running time
113 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$21,750,684[1]

God's Not Dead is a 2014 Christian drama film directed by Harold Cronk, and stars Shane Harper, Kevin Sorbo, Jim Gleason, David A.R. White, Marco Khan and Dean Cain. The film was released to theaters on March 21, 2014 by Pure Flix Entertainment.[2]

Plot

Josh Wheaton (Shane Harper), a devout Christian and freshman college student, enrolls in a philosophy class taught by a dogmatic and argumentative atheist. Professor Radisson (Kevin Sorbo) demands that all of his students must sign a declaration that "God is dead" in order to get a passing grade. Faced with a choice between passing the class and betraying his beliefs, Josh refuses. And so the professor strikes a bargain: Josh must defend his position that "God's not dead" in a series of debates with him. If he loses, he flunks. When Josh accepts the challenge, he gets more than he bargained for — jeopardizing his faith, his relationships, even his academic future. [3]

Cast

The film also includes cameos by Christian pop rock band Newsboys, and Willie and Korie Robertson from the television series Duck Dynasty.

Production

The film was shot in Baton Rouge, Louisiana from October to November 2012. A concert appearance of the Newsboys was filmed in Houston, Texas.[4]

Reception

Critical reception

Numerous sources have cited the film's similarities to a popular urban legend. The basic structure -that of a Christian student debating an atheist professor and winning in front of the class- has been the subject of at least two popular legends and a popular Chick tract.[5][6][7][8][9][10]

The film has been panned by critics, currently holding a score of 16/100 on Metacritic indicating 'Overwhelming Dislike' based on 5 critics.[11] It also holds a 20% favorable rating on Rotten Tomatoes yet has an 87% favorable audience rating. [12] Writing for The A.V. Club, Todd VanDerWerff gave the film a D-, saying "Even by the rather lax standards of the Christian film industry, God's Not Dead is a disaster. It's an uninspired amble past a variety of Christian-email-forward boogeymen that feels far too long at just 113 minutes".[13] Reviewer Scott Foundas of Variety wrote "...even grading on a generous curve, this strident melodrama about the insidious efforts of America's university system to silence true believers on campus is about as subtle as a stack of Bibles falling on your head...".[14] Steve Pulaski of Influx Magazine, however, was less critical of the film, giving it a C+ and stating "God's Not Dead has issues, many of them easy to spot and heavily distracting. However, it's surprisingly effective in terms of message, acting, and insight, which are three fields Christian cinema seems to struggle with the most".[15]

Christian appraisal

The film God's Not Dead has been supported by several major organizations, such as Ratio Christi, an international university apologetics organization, which stated "We train students, like the character Josh, to do exactly what Josh did—advocate for the scientific, philosophical and historical reasons for believing in God’s existence and following Christ. The movie weaves together the complexity of what students face from their professors, fellow students and even fellow Christians when one is courageous enough to 'come out' for Christ on campus. We applaud the producers and actors of God’s Not Dead for sounding a wakeup call to the church to be prepared to tear down false philosophies and stand up intelligently for the reasons for the hope within."[16] The Alliance Defending Freedom, American Heritage Girls, Faith Driven Consumer, Denison Forum on Truth and Culture, Trevecca Nazarene University, and The Dove Foundation have also endorsed the film.[16] The film has also been endorsed by several athletes, such as "Daytona 500 champ Trevor Bayne, Olympic gold medalist platform diver David Boudia, former New York Yankee pitcher Andy Pettitte, Lauryn Williams, an Olympic bobsledder and track and field sprinter, and football player Josh Brown of the New York Giants."[17]

I believe Christians should go see this movie because it will strengthen their faith and help them question situations about how they stood up or backed down for their faith. It will also encourage them to share their faith more.

— Alliance Defending Freedom

Dave Hartline of The American Catholic gave God's Not Dead a positive review and hoped that other films like it "will follow".[18] In the National Review Online, Hartline noted that the directors Cary Solomon and Chuck Konzelman "go to Mass during the week and regularly partake of the sacraments, especially confession."[19] Some Christian youth groups in the Methodist, Catholic, and Baptist traditions are watching God's Not Dead together.[20][21][22]

Commercial performance

In its first weekend of release, the film earned $8.6 million domestically from just 780 theaters, causing Entertainment Weekly's Adam Markovitz to refer to it as "The biggest surprise of the weekend...". In addition, the film added 398 additional theaters (almost 50% increase) after its 2nd week. [23]

References

  1. ^ "God's Not Dead". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
  2. ^ The Hollywood Reporter
  3. ^ Godisnotdeadthemovie.com
  4. ^ Schoen, Taylor (November 12, 2012). "Christian movie filming on campus". The Daily Reveille. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
  5. ^ "Malice of Absence". snopes.com.
  6. ^ "Dropped Chalk". snopes.com.
  7. ^ "'Noah' Washes Away Competition At The Box Office".
  8. ^ ""God's Not Dead," But this Trope Is".
  9. ^ "If an Anti-Atheist Story on Snopes Were Made Into a Film, It'd Be This One".
  10. ^ "Big Daddy?".
  11. ^ Metacritic
  12. ^ Rotten Tomatoes
  13. ^ The A.V. Club
  14. ^ Variety
  15. ^ Influxmagazine.com
  16. ^ a b "God's Not Dead - Endorsements". Pure Flix Entertainment. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  17. ^ Lee, Morgan. "'God's Not Dead' Movie Surprises Again, Exceeding Expectations at Box Office". The Christian Post. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  18. ^ "God's Not Dead; There's Something Happening Here". The American Catholic. Retrieved 2 April 2014. Slowly but surely with movies like God's Not Dead, others will follow, and the old secular guard will not like it and force us to endure some trials and tribulations. - See more at: http://the-american-catholic.com/2014/03/30/gods-not-dead-theres-something-happening-here/#sthash.zZY7vFmh.dpuf {{cite web}}: External link in |quote= (help)
  19. ^ Hartline, David (29 March 2014). National Review http://www.nationalreview.com/article/374524/gods-not-dead-interview/page/0/1. Retrieved 2 April 2014. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  20. ^ "Dallas Bay Baptist Hosts Movie, "God's Not Dead"". The Chattanoogan. 19 March 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  21. ^ "Youth Watches "God's Not Dead"". United Methodist Church. 13 March 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  22. ^ "God's Not Dead". St. Mary, Our Lady Queen of Families Parish. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  23. ^ Box office report: 'Divergent' heads straight for $56 million win | Inside Movies | EW.com
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