Faith Based Cinema In Flux: To Save A Life

As I get older the less cynical and hardened I become, is this growing up? I ask this because after reading a cynical review of a film that was at times amateurish I came the conclusion that I didn’t hate it, in fact while I can’t recommend it, it is a message film, but it’s not a bad one. Christian cinema has always tried to compete with Hollywood either by making melodrama (Fireproof) or action films (Left Behind, The Omega Code). The flaws of corse in the action films are the special effects and story: per IMDB the Omega code is about a guy who tries to change the world because of some loophole in the Torah or something, and Casper Van Dien is our only hope. This to me doesn’t sound like much fun, nor worth $12.00.

But the problems I had with To Save A Life, a new Catholic themed film are problems I have with most teen films: how artificial they are. If you’ve seen Kevin Smith live he’ll probably go on about Degrassi Junior High - a show that he claims was realistic in its portrayal of youth - no one was perfectly flawless looking. Teen films of coarse offer escape - but the problem I have with To Save A Life is that it confronts real issues while offering escape.

It takes place in California. The two leads in the film are older than me and they’re playing 18 year olds (I’m 26). It provides the high school clique montage where everyone is hanging out before class outdoors, some even playing guitar. This has all been done before and was played out 11 years ago when She’s All That was out. Of coarse the audience for this movie were in Pre-K when that film was out...I know, indulge me.

Of coarse the outcasts wear black, they always do. They always play video games. High school is a polarizing environment which leads to a suicide early on of a young overweight African American kid. Our star, Jake Taylor (that’s a more boring white guy name than John Fink!) tries to save him, after all this kid saved Jake’s life, and Jake dissed him - forgetting the rules: bros. before hoes. Jake looses his virginity (I assume) and has ben with the very beatiful Amy (played by Deja Kreutzberg, I can write she’s very beatiful without feeling weird for looking at an 18 year old girl that way because - she’s 3 years older than I, playing an 18 year old).

She isn’t very supportive of Jake at first, and this led me to thinking about popularity and groups in high school: they actually don’t matter. Like a Bruce Springsteen song when I’m back home I see and talk to everybody, then again I went to a tiny school. It’s like “Glory Days” - then again these may be the glory days, adulthood sounds a little grim, that whole being with one person for the rest of your life and having kids business. Glory Days, yeah, they’ll pass you by.

To Save A Life offers two groups to us: those that find God through the New Song Ministry (who also produced this flick) or those that are popular, play beer pong, do stupid shit and are in general kind of one dimensional. On the other side, getting away from Amy (who doesn’t seem to really have any female friends oddly enough yet she’s the “hottest girl in school”) - we get the “youth group” kids. Some are weird like the funky but cute hipster Andrea Stevens (boring white girl name - played by Kim Hidalgo, no age given on IMDB, she looks about 20), and her BFFs whom are a bit homely and don’t get much screen time. After all, even though this deals with realistic themes, we can’t have real people in it.

To Save A Life dives into religious themes, although it doesn’t alienate all, it just suggests some odd things: granted there is some diversity between races in this school - but where’s the Jewish kid? The Muslim? Do they have to find God to fit in? The more I think of this film the more deceptive a propaganda film I suppose it could be. I will give the film the benefit of the doubt, while coded it doesn’t go to those extremes, although it suggests tensions within the church.

After a character gets another character pregnant the priest leading the parish discusses virtual excommunication from the youth group. What? The flick’s hero, the youth pastor Chris comes to his aid offering good advice, although he does so with the skill of an army recruiter.

Perhaps theoretically directed filmmakers such as Atom Egoyan have made us cynical. When you have a scene in which one character asks another information they already know just to hear from them, in this case to heal the information giver, verses the asker. In Egoyan it’s often the one asking the question that is trying to uncover a mystery through confession and/or a re-imagining of the answer to find a truth buried within.

The problem is To Save A Life isn’t theoretical, it keeps plot points coming, it contains deception, one character is down right evil here. It’s cut and dry, often we don’t know the real reasons people commit suicide. We have all probably thought about suicide at one point - I once wrote a note as a way of clearing my head. I had no intention nor idea of how I would do it, or desire, it was a passing thing. Teenhood isn’t like it is in the cinema, life isn’t that simple, adults think it is and as we grow up we remember the good times and not so much the pain.

I say this because I’ve written and revisited a script called Football Town, which examines these ideas without the artifice of the montage, it contains the pain, suffering and drama, it takes place in a small town. I didn’t go to a large regional high school in California where its sunny all the time.

Yet, with this said, I don’t hate To Save A Life. I hope it does what its title suggests actually, but those that should see it will resist it. Sure its inspiring but its preaching to those that are in church on Sunday. Too often high school movies dream of breaking down class structure: it can’t happen. The lines in this film don’t even really reflect the fault of the kids: the jocks come from wealthy families, including Jake, the nerds, not so much (one lives in a trailer park).

Of coarse appearance matters: the Asian kid who cuts his wrists doesn’t wear black anymore once he’s “accepted” - he’s rockin’ a yellow polo shirt. Then again he’s trying to get with the cute hipster girl. While one doesn’t have to dress like a preppy moron, why does one have to wear black and be all dark and mysterious. It’s off putting, to say the least. Perhaps their local mall only has Hot Topic and not Urban Outfitters.

As I talk this out, I’m not so sure anymore about To Save A Life. I’m not against this message, but I think as the Futurists, a movement I’m learning about in my Sources of Modern Theater class though: why do something in two yours you can do in 10 minutes. So I’ll point you to the lyrics to the Foo Fighter’s Wheels - we live in cycles, like wheels - when the wheels come down (life is hard), you get another go around. Hold on. I really wanted to end Hollow Spaces with this song, unfortunately I can’t imagine what that would cost. The cords are uplifting while the song isn’t deceptive, it deals with dark themes optimistically - it mourns something that didn’t happen, it creates a nostalgic feeling, as if you were giving this advise to someone in the past, having lived through the cycle.

I write this and think how arrogant I am. I was never going to kill myself - I’m a pussy. And I can’t imagine what it’s like to seriously think about it, and I mean no disrespect to families coping with the loss of a loved one.

As a film: How to Save A Life suffers shortcomings that films of this genre and market are bound to suffer. I believe film and music have the power to save lives, often they are made by artists that attempt to do so, listen to the rage in a Limp Bizkit or Lincoln Park song. How to Save A Life is restricted, I wish it wasn’t. Of coarse the tragic thing is that had it been real it would have gotten an R-rating, something we still need to address. Work that could inspire a 16-year old is kept from them, unless accompanied by a parent or adult guardian, and theater chains should take a stance that offers more flexibility than the MPAA’s black and white guidelines.

When I make Football Town, which on its own is a problem, it’s a film that takes place in a time before kids widely had cell phones and we were still on Web 1.0 (IM-ing which no one does anymore was in, now everyone uses Facebook chat*) - it will have an R, or even NC-17 rating. It’ll be the truth. How To Save A Life doesn’t really need an R rating, we get it, the two leads aren’t practicing abstinence, in fact (SPOILER) there’s a consequence to it.

*Showing the fact the film was made in 2008 the hero reaches out to people on Myspace.

How can the film be more credible? Well it is a sincere film, although its been funded by the Catholic church the only people that wouldn’t agree with its message are suicide bombers and their fucking assholes anyway. I wish it didn’t limit itself to being Catholic. One can be good while not being Catholic, why should God, if there is one not embrace them as a wonderful human being. The film never explores that one can find salvation outside of the church - that we can be good people, give to our communities and make a positive impact while not being religious.

The film pits two closed societies against each other: the inclusive religious youth group which turns into a high school clique and the cool kids who drink, party and play sports. Of coarse the lead changes, even saying like: “I don’t even like that Jake anymore” and Amy only comes around after she learns something life changing, for a time I thought she was like Snookie from MTV’s The Jersey Shore - she wanted Jake as an accessory, like a new Louis Vuitton bag.

Catholic film has come of age, a long way from the Omega Code. It hasn’t crossed into and merged with film to the point where non-catholics will not be alienated by these church funded message films. There are of coarse examples of good Catholic films with generous spirits, one made by a warped filmmaker who in real life seems like a heck of a nice guy, Danny Boyle, his family film - Millions.

In short - the film is actually upfront about what it is, I suppose. It’s a Catholic film, and it’s a decent one if you don’t count its conventions against it, entertaining as it is manipulative but it shows great promise. As soon as independent filmmakers free themselves from the chains of trying to make Hollywood style products and bring an original voice to the table, we’ll be set. This is also a trend in what I call “regional” filmmaking - and its what makes them regional, they feature local casts and try to do what Hollywood does.

Hollow Spaces is trying to do what Egoyan does, it’s an attempt at building emotional energy no through music and over acting, but subtle sound effects and a non-linear narrative. I feel as if a certain type of independent filmmaking is stuck in a matrix, if you don’t have a star in your film, why play by the rules of star driven flicks? The voice of a filmmaker is always more interesting to me, provided the aren’t showing off. Your taking me on a journey, I want you to take my hand and lead me along, I don’t want to be pushed along (Tom Ford’s A Single Man is an example of being pushed, beatiful but overly done). So that’s my challenge - bring it.