The Song is a faith-based film which
tries a bit too hard to stay ‘middle-of-the-road,’ but by attempting to please
everyone, first-time filmmaker Richard Ramsey has made a rather bland piece of
entertainment. I would still take this over most Christian-made films like
Fireproof, but there is still a ways to go before faith-based films are
successfully integrated into mainstream. While far from perfect, films like When the Game Stands Tall, Moms’ Night Out and The Song are a step in the right direction; that direction being as
far from Kurt Cameron and Sherwood Pictures as possible.
Though it is
kept mostly subtle (with the exception of a few of the names), The Song is loosely adapted from the
biblical story of King Solomon. Son of successful country rock star David King
(wink, wink), Jed King (Alan Powell), is a banjo-playing aspiring country star
without a fraction of his father’s success. When forced to take a small job
playing a local vineyard festival, Jed meets the owner’s daughter, Rose (Ali
Faulkner).
Despite being in their twenties, the
two have a courtship that often involves Rose’s father joining them as a
chaperone. One can imagine that even kissing is kept to a minimum, as to not
provide temptation against purity. This segment would not have bothered me had
the couple engaged in a healthy sex life once they were married, but Rose
continues to force Jed to jump through hoops for moments of affection. The
implication of this encounter is frustrating in both the depiction of Christian
piousness equated with a sense of sexual repression and frigidity and the
implications towards expectations of men in the Christian community.
Part of the difficulty relating to
the demands of Rose comes from Faulkner’s trouble handling much of the material
without falling into the pitfalls of melodrama. Surprisingly, it is musician
Powell who manages to hold the film together. If only the beards that the
make-up department put on his face were as believable as his performance. I was
actually far more impressed with Powell’s ability to act than much of the music
in the movie, which sounds like generic worship music rather than Country. This
is also the type of film that has one good song that gets played far too many
times in the lengthy 116-minute running-time.
The song from the title is one
written for Rose, which leads to a successful career as a musician. The only
downfall for Jed is that this means spending a majority of his time touring.
When he does come home, Rose is too tired and demanding for any physical
contact, so Jed eventually turns to temptation. When an attractive new
violinist named Shelby Bale (Caitlin Nicol-Thomas) joins his tour, Jed finds
himself tempted with alcohol, drugs and sex. This leads to a faith-film
favorite; the predictable third act redemption. While aspects of the film are
not awful, there is little about The Song
that is memorable either. Ramsey set out to make an inoffensive film, but at
least it did it with a little more talent than the market is accustomed to.
The DVD special features include a
commentary track with Ramsey, as well as four featurettes. There are some which
are production-based, such as the featurette about the cast of the adaptation
of the biblical text. Then there is the featurette with author Kyle Idleman
discussing love, sex and marriage. Suddenly this film begins to feel a bit more
like an attempt to replace the atrocious Fireproof
as the Christian film about marital relations. The problem with Christian
films discussing sex is their unwillingness to show the act. In The Song, Rose is unable to even say the
word ‘sex.’
Entertainment Value:
6.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 4.5/10
Historical
Significance: 4/10
Special Features: 7/10
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