The Resurrection of Gavin Stone
for thematic elements including a crucifixion image.
Reviewed by: Veronica Garnett—first time reviewer
CONTRIBUTOR
| Moral Rating: | Good |
| Moviemaking Quality: |
|
| Primary Audience: | Family Teens Adults |
| Genre: | Christian Family Comedy Romance Drama |
| Length: | 1 hr. 32 min. |
| Year of Release: | 2017 |
| USA Release: |
January 20, 2017 (wide—887 theaters) DVD: May 2, 2017 |
Are you truly welcoming new visitors to your church, or are you superficial?
Are you thinking of other people’s needs, instead of just your own?
Never be ashamed of the Gospel. Live it. Love others. Be open about your faith, and why following Christ is vital, for now and for eternity.
Always be a HUMBLE SERVANT—like the Apostles, consider yourself a willing slave to Jesus Christ your Savior / Never seek admiration for yourself—all glory goes to God
How did Jesus greatly humble himself for us? Answer
Some people just pretend to be followers of Christ—or think they are saved, when they are unregenerate. Learn how to see through their façade to lovingly guide them to the truth.
Lead by example, truly value love, goodness, righteousness and eternal salvation—the truly important things in life, as revealed in God’s Word
Help people see that, on our own, NO human is good enough to be acceptable to our Holy Creator—not you or them. There is no way earn admittance into Heaven. Christ is the only Way—the only solution to our dilemma.
God’s grace, mercy and forgiveness of our sins is available, if you will but admit your own sinfulness—repent and confess it to God—believe Christ and what He has done for you. Accept that you are saved by His grace—His payment for your sins—redeeming you from the judgment that all sinners justly deserve.
CELEBRITIES’ VIEWS—What do “Hollywood” celebrities believe about spiritual issues? Find out
HOLLYWOOD DISCONNECT—Why is there a disconnect between “Hollywood” and the rest of America? Answer
CHANGE HOLLYWOOD—What is being done to change the values of “Hollywood”? Answer
CHURCH—Why should Christians go to church? How important is it? Answer
| Featuring |
Brett Dalton … Gavin Stone Anjelah Johnson-Reyes … Kelly Richardson Shawn Michaels … Doug Neil Flynn … Waylon Stone D.B. Sweeney … Pastor Allen Richardson Tim Frank … John Mark Christopher Maleki … Mike Meara Liam Matthews … Charles Kirk B.R. Woller … Jack Roth |
| Director | Dallas Jenkins — “What If…” (2010), “Hometown Legend” (2002), “Once We Were Slaves” (2014), “Midnight Clear” (2006) |
| Producer |
Pure Publicity WWE Studios See all » |
| Distributor |
BH Tilt High Top Releasing |
“If church can change him, it will be a miracle.”
“The Resurrection of Gavin Stone” is an absolute must see! I am already looking forward to seeing it again, as I write this review. If you are already a Christian, you will appreciate many humorous scenes, and you will find yourself smiling and laughing. Gavin (Brett Dalton—who played Grant Ward on the “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” TV series) is a struggling and out of work actor with some bad boy behavior. He finds himself having to do 200 hours of community service at a church in his hometown.
He isn’t exactly the church going type. One scene in particular is prior to Gavin being allowed to audition for the role of Jesus; he has to share his testimony, which is very funny, because he doesn’t have one and has to wing it. Having an audition scene within a movie can be awkward, but this is done brilliantly and with humor. The “talent” are the members of the congregation who cannot act, and it’s quite obvious.
Gavin is quickly accepted into the group by three guys who portray Christian outreach by inviting him to hang out with them and have a pizza. They share info with him about the play’s director and pastor’s daughter (Anjelah Johnson-Reyes). Gavin decides he must learn some Christian etiquette to impress her, so he shows up at Sunday service dressed as a “christian” in what he perceives is the right outfit for church and proceeds to greet everyone saying “blessings,” which comes off funny.
The movie continues to come together very nicely with a friendship developing between Gavin and and the cast, until he hears from his Hollywood agent, letting him know that he has to return to Los Angeles for a TV show that shoots immediately.
There will be tears in the ending scenes of this movie, because it is emotionally powerful and truly moving. This is a must see for everyone, as it will have a lasting impact on your life.
Violence: Minor / Profanity: None / Sex/Nudity: Mild
Official site for more informationOfficial church resources for this film: thisiswhatwedo.church
See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 4½
Moral rating: Excellent! / Moviemaking quality: 3½
Moral rating: Excellent! / Moviemaking quality: 4
That’s pretty ironic given the above reviewer, who was very quick to judge the entire film based on a few clips and his personal preferences. But clips from the forthcoming movie, interviews with the actors, and applicable scriptures have been used in our recent services to challenge, convict, and teach our fellowship about how we are supposed to treat not only fellow believers, but anyone who walks through our doors.
I’m looking forward to seeing the movie, as the lesson above has already opened my eyes about how I can be more welcoming, loving, and forgiving. I hope it does the same for all who see it.
His community service duties: janitorial duties at the local (mega)church. Because Gavin is an actor, he wants to work out some of his 200 service hours by participating in the church Easter production. He wants the part of Jesus.
Since the participants must be Christians, he pretends to be one. At tryouts, his acting skills are comparatively excellent, and his audition is applauded. He got the part. Then, Gavin shows off his acting skills still more by continuing the pretense of being a Christian. He Googles: What do Christians wear to church? What bumper stickers do they stick on their vehicles? How do they pray? What words do they use? (Guess what overused Christian word becomes his favorite? Yep—BLESSING.) See all »
Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 4
PLEASE share your observations and insights to be posted here.
It had me and my husband laughing, some of the behaviors of Gavin, as he tries to fit in, are laugh-out-loud funny and awkward (but no one says a word, they share a few glances, but never put him down). At the same time, it made me cry. I pretended I just had an itch, right near my eye, over and over. I recommend it. My husband isn’t sold on just any Christian movie but we both liked it. I’ll definately buy it when it comes to DVD.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 3½