Grace of God DVD

Grace of God synopsis: Having lost his faith many years ago, Detective Bill Broadly is called to investigate the disappearance of the local church’s collection plate. As he questions its various church members, rumors swirl as more congregants learn about the theft. When one unexpected church-goer confesses to stealing the funds, the confession resurrects Broadly’s views on God, and helps him see that through faith and belief there really is rebirth and redemption. 99 Minutes // Genre: Family, Inspirational // Rating:  NR (DVD back cover)

My Review: Mixed feelings on this one. The good is that this is a family friendly film, although the marriage problems of the older daughter (Erin Bethea) are not for the very young. Poor decisions have been made by many of the characters, but most appear to be resolved by the end of the film and the characters are better for the changes made. The 2 main characters, Constance (Julia Parker) and Bill (Vincent Duvall), are both good actors and I wish there had been more acknowledgement of them on the DVD cover. John Ratzenberger had a small role, but was given top billing due to name recognition. Lorenzo Lamas was also a great addition to the cast as the janitor and antagonist to the private investigator.

Family friendly and weaves matters of faith effortlessly through-out the story is the positive. While grace is freely given to the thief, and I do understand why, it did seem to fall a bit flat. Some of the story just did not seem to flow right and small things would bother me. Maybe part of the problem was that I correctly identified the thief very early on. But the reactions of people often did not make sense either. I felt like I was missing part of a conversation that would link it together. Goodness knows real people don't always make sense either, but that was not my only issue with the story. There was mention of it being a large church and many people having access to keys to the safe. Yet the sanctuary did not look very big or crowded. The score was also inconsistent with the action at times.

It's an average film. There are too many of my own pet peeves with films in this one, but they were annoyances that may not trouble others. Since I don't want to do "spoilers", I won't elaborate. There is an audience for this film; I have friends who genuinely like it. I can also see it generating discussion about matters of faith. The marketing of "A Story of Easter Traditions" and "Based on the Ten Commandments" is true, but mostly in the broad sense of Christianity. I thought it was pushing it a bit, but I also understand promoting films and trying to reach your niche market.

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GIVEAWAY!! To be entered into a random drawing to win a copy of Grace of God, please leave a comment. Contest ends Wed., April 22, 2015 at Noon (CDT)

"Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

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