Have A Little Faith..."The Resurrection Of Gavin Stone"

The Resurrection Of Gavin Stone (2017)

Rated PG

Starring Brett Dalton, Angela Johnson-Reyes, Shawn Michaels, D.B. Sweeney, Neil Flynn,

Directed by Dallas Jenkins

The Story:

Gavin Stone (Dalton) is a former child actor who has one altercation with the police too many. Forced to do community service instead of jail time, he opts to assist a church in his hometown. While working on a strained relationship with his dad (Flynn), he becomes intrigued by Kelly (Johnson-Reyes) who is directing the church's Passion Play. What better community service for an actor than to play the role of a lifetime, and tackle Jesus. The church has one stipulation though, all actors have to be Christians. Easy enough, Gavin is an actor after all, and he'll just wing the whole Christian thing as well.

So I'm sure I've already lost a few people's interests because it's a "Christian movie".

So now, I'll lose the rest of you: It was made by WWE Studios.

How's that for a change of pace from the folks that give us B movie action flicks every few months?

It's a light comedy with a touch of romance as Gavin tries desperately to woo Kelly. What he learns, among many things, is the harder he tries, the more he fails.  It is when he is sincere and honest that Kelly, and most everyone else, really open up to him and like the Gavin Stone that stands before them.

Naturally there needs to be a 3rd Act conflict that threatens everything that has unfolded for Gavin on his journey of redemption.

It comes by way of Hollywood calling him back to the world of network television, and naturally, he needs to be back in Hollywood.

The same weekend.

Is Gavin going to choose Hollywood or the small town?

And is any of his pretending to be a Christian going to sink in and stick?

Dalton does a great job as the former star who has crashed back to Earth hard, and wants nothing more than to recapture the glory of his past. By the end of the movie, you can see the changes that have come over him and it's a sweet story to behold.

Final Grade: B

Bruce Willis Needs "Extraction" From The Direct To DVD Movie Realm

Extraction (2015)

Rated R

Starring Kellan Lutz, Gina Carano, Bruce Willis, D.B. Sweeney

Directed by Steven Miller

The Story:

Harry Turner (Lutz) has been training to be the best C.I.A. field operative since his dad, Leonard (Willis). He keeps getting denied because his dad keeps calling in favors to keep his son safe. When Leonard is kidnapped, Harry goes rogue to save him. Victoria (Carano) an ex-flame and current agent is assigned to bring Harry in, but they both will need to work together to find Leonard's kidnappers and stop something much, much bigger than they realize.

It's a movie about spies, so you need to be brief and vague on the review.

To its benefit, this movie is brief, clocking in under 90 minutes and it's not bad, so not a total waste of your time.

Contrary to movie posters and billing, Bruce Willis is not the star, it's Kellan Lutz who is being groomed to be part of the next generation of action heroes.

We were spoiled with our 80s and 90s action stars. They were often many things, but rarely wooden.

Most of the actors that are getting handed these franchises have little personality or charisma.

Lutz carried most of the Hercules movie a few years back.

No, not the one that was overshadowed by The Rock a few months later.

:)

He just doesn't do anything to stand out in the generic leading action star department.

Films like this aren't helping him much either.

So again, not bad, but probably a million other action films you can get to before you need to watch this one.

Final Grade:  C

I'm Always Up For A "Heist" Film

Heist (2015)

Rated R

Starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Gina Carano, Dave Bautista, Robert DeNiro, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Morris Chestnut, Kate Bosworth, D.B. Sweeney, Stephen Sepher

Directed by Scott Mann

The Story:

Vaughn (Morgan) needs a ton of money to save his little girl. So he goes to see his old boss, The Pope (DeNiro) who feels bad, but not bad enough to compromise on his principles to never give money to charity. Vaughn then turns to Cox (Bautista) who works at the casino and they hatch a plan to rob the casino. When the driver bails on them, the criminals end up hijacking a bus and taking the passengers hostage. Now it's a high stakes game of cat and mouse as they must elude the authorities and The Pope's men for a clean getaway.

Okay, so if you're going to make a heist film and call it Heist, it better be good.

From my point of view, it was.

: )

Your mileage may vary of course, but I quite liked this one from start to finish.

It starts with a strong cast, and there isn't much of a problem with that in this film. DeNiro can do the tough mob boss in his sleep, but he puts just enough heart and remorse to his character that you can understand why he makes the decisions that he does as the film moves forward.

Morgan is the emotional anchor and focal point of the film. Faced with the prospect of losing his daughter, he is determined to do whatever it takes, by any means necessary. Bautista doesn't get to do much acting like he did in Guardians of the Galaxy, here he mostly yells and spits a lot.

While this would be typecasting or typical of most WWE wrestlers turned actors, Dave has already shown much potential and heart as an actor and it will be interesting to see where he goes from here.

That said, he will grate on your nerves in this film, and that is both intentional, and necessary, to the overall narrative.

As you'll notice by the cast listed above, they all have numerous parts which all play pivotal roles in the film.

But remember, this is a heist film, so any plot twists and turns that you're expecting, or not expecting, are best enjoyed as spoiler-free as possible.

A few tweaks here and there, this movie could have been in contention for best of the year honors.

That said, it's a solid movie and I'd be willing to own it or watch it again in the future.

Final Grade: B