October Positivity: Revelation Road 2: The Sea of Glass and Fire (dir by Gabriel Sabloff)

Posted on October 27, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Eric Roberts is in this!

That, in itself, isn’t a surprise. Eric Roberts was also in the first Revelation Road. He plays the same role in the 2013 sequel. Roberts is Sheriff Jenson, the not particularly religious sheriff who has to deal with a town that’s gone mad in the wake of the Rapture. Over the course of one night, dozens of people (including Jenson’s mother) vanished as their souls flew into the air. Jenson isn’t sure what happened but he knows that there is panic in the streets and that there is also a crazed motorcycle gang to deal with. In the first film, Roberts was onscreen for maybe two minutes. He gets closer to five minutes in Revelation Road 2 and you know what? it’s always nice to see Eric Roberts!

As for the rest of the film, it picks up where the previous one ended. Josh McManus (David A.R. White) is trying to get home to his family while also resisting the urge to become a killer. It’s not easy. Flashbacks reveal that Josh was actually brainwashed by the CIA to be a remorseless killer. He’s haunted by a mission in the Middle East and the amount of people he killed over there. He’s joined in his drive home by Beth (Noelle Coet), a teenage girl who has been sent by Jesus himself (Bruce Marchiano) to help guide Josh in the right direction. Pursuing Josh is the fearsome Hawg (Brian Bosworth), a motorcycle gang leader who is haunted by his own personal tragedy. Hawg’s daughter, Cat (Andrea Logan White), struggles to understand her father’s anger and hatred.

Revelation Road 2 is a definite improvement over the first film. If the first film seemed to take forever to go nowhere, Revelation Road 2 is all about Josh’s determination to get back home. Once he starts that car up, nothing is going to stop him. If the first film seemed to be a bit too eager to show off Josh’s talent for killing people, Revelation Road 2 features Josh trying to hold back on his murderous instincts. Flashbacks to Hawg’s past life bring some much-needed nuance and context to his actions and they keep him from being just a one-dimensional villain. I would dare say that Bosworth actually gives a legitimately good performance in this film.

Though the film wears its influences on its sleeve (Hi, Mad Max!), Revelation Road 2 is still a surprisingly well-done action film.

Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed:

October Positivity: The Moment After 2: The Awakening

Posted on October 16, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

2006’s The Moment After 2 picks up where The Moment After ended.

In the days after the Rapture, the Global Alliance has taken over the world. The government seeks to control everything. Paper money is becoming a thing of the past and instead, everyone is expected to pay via a chip that’s been implanted in their hand. Not having a chip means going to prison and probably being executed for being a subversive. The Global forces, led by the sadistic Commander Fredericks (Monte Rex Perlin), are hunting down dissidents. People are being reeducated. It’s the type of world that, in reality, a lot of people want, even if they hide it behind a bunch of class struggle rhetoric.

Former FBI agent Adam Riley (David A.R. White) is on Death Row but he gets a chance for freedom when the prison transport is attacked by a rebel group. When the other prisoners ask Adam to come with them, Adam takes one look at all the bodies of the people killed during the attack and refuses. He’s not a follower of Global but he doesn’t want any part of the rebel militia’s demand of “an eye for an eye.” Instead, Adam wanders through the desert until he finds a community of Christians. He’s reunited with the Rev. Jacob Krause (Brad Heller), from the first film. He also meets Carissa (Andrea Logan White), a woman with whom he is in love. However, she’s married to Richard (Mark Atteberry) and we all know what the Bible says about adultery. Of course, the world is now a dangerous place and, with Fredericks executing every Christian he finds, maybe Adam will still get his chance. Adultery may be a sin but moving in on a new widow is not.

Meanwhile, Adam’s former partner and friend, Charles Baker (Kevin Downes), is recruited to track Adam down. If Charles captures Adam, maybe Charles’s wife Rebecca (Deanne Morre) will be releases from prison. Or maybe not. You really can’t trust the Global Alliance.

One thing that I appreciated about this film is that Adam, despite plenty of opportunities to give into temptation, stayed true to the commandment that “Thou Shalt Not Kill.” A lot of faith-based, apocalypse films tend to use the end times setting as an excuse to turn its characters into quip-ready action heroes, gunning down the forces of the world government and blowing up buildings without a second thought. This film, though, is smart enough to say, “Hold on, the whole anti-killing thing still applies, regardless of how bad things get.”

As for the rest of the film, it’s well-made and the cast is decent. That may sound like faint praise but, after you’ve watched enough low-budget faith-based productions, you come to appreciate the ones that at least feature a steady camera, a clean soundtrack, and actors who can at least show a modicum of emotion. As tempting as it may be to laugh at the heavy-handedness of the Global Alliance, those of us who remember the COVID lockdowns will never forget some of the suggestions that were made for dealing with people who were judged to be noncompliant because they didn’t want to observe curfew or close their businesses. Much like the first film, The Moment After 2 is a decent thriller, one that works nicely for our paranoid times.

October Positivity: The Wager (dir by Judson Pearce Morgan)

Posted on October 1, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In 2007’s The Wager, Randy Travis plays Michael Steele, an Oscar-nominated actor who….

Stop laughing, that’s not nice.

Okay, I’ll be the first to admit that Randy Travis is not exactly the first person that I would cast as an Oscar-nominated actor. And, I’ll also be the first to admit that having Randy Travis act in this film makes it even harder to believe him as someone who could someday be nominated for an Oscar. A lot of country music stars have tried their hand at acting and most of them have been able to survive on the basis of their own authenticity. But there’s nothing authentic about Travis’s performance here. Even when he picks up a guitar and sings a song about the difficulties that he’s facing, he’s not convincing. In this, it’s not so much that Travis is a stiff actor as he just seems to evaporate whenever he’s on screen.

As for the film, Michael Steele is an actor who is known for his strong faith and his refusal to do sex scenes. When a director (Bronson Pinchot) throws a fit over Steele’s refusal to shoot once such scene, Steele says that he’ll do the scene but only if it’s followed by a scene in which his co-star has to deal with being a single mother. OUCH! Michael Steele seems like he’s fun at parties….

(Apparently, it doesn’t occur to Michael that his character could wear a condom.)

Wait a minute. This guy has the same name as that jackass who is always on the news talking about how he’s a Republican who thinks everyone should vote for the Democrats. I wonder if that’s intentional. Anyway….

Michael Steele’s career has had its up and downs. His recent divorce from Annie (Nancy Stafford) has damaged his family friendly image. But his Oscar nomination and the fact that he’s expected to win has once again made the world’s most popular star. But then — scandal! A tabloid photographer snaps a picture of Michael talking to a young actress at his house. In the background, a little kid watches. Now, the kid is a part of the Big Brother program and Michael was just trying to help the younger woman with her career but it doesn’t matter. Soon, Michael finds himself being portrayed as being some sort of pervert. When he punches a photographer, he finds himself getting arrested — RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIS CHURCH!

Now, as you may have guessed, this is yet another retelling of the story of Job, with Michael having his faith tested by one disaster after another. He doesn’t lose his faith and, as a result, he wins both an Oscar and he also becomes a hero when he rescues the kid from the Big Brother program from his abusive stepfather. Anyone who thinks that God wouldn’t have a hand in who wins an Oscar obviously did not listen to Will Smith’s acceptance speech.

The Wager is a film that would probably not be made today. Today, you’re not likely to see a socially conservative, faith-based film where a successful actor is wrongly accused of being a pervert. Then again, you also probably wouldn’t see a politically liberal film in which a successful white male actor was wrong accused of being an abuser, not in today’s cultural climate. On both the Left and the Right, attitudes towards Hollywood have changed. Beyond the film’s political and cultural subtext, its portrait of the Oscars as being the most important event of the year also feels rather old-fashioned. I imagine it felt old-fashioned in 2007 as well….

Then again, this is a film in which Randy Travis plays the best actor of his generation so perhaps it’s best not to take any of it too seriously. The miscasting of Travis pretty much sabotages the movie from the start but, on the positive side, Bronon Pinchot is amusing as a bitchy director and Jude Ciccolella has a few good scenes as Michael’s supportive agent. Give those men an Oscar!

Film Review: The Encounter: Paradise Lost (2012, dir. David A.R. White)

Posted on March 1, 2016 by Valerie Troutman

Update: I don’t like to change my old reviews because good or bad, they reflect where I was at the time. However, since writing this review, I have been assured by Sean Paul Murphy who wrote and edited the film, that it was not directed by David A.R. White. He has told me that it is a pseudonym, but just not for White. It was a DGA issue. I’m going to take his word for it unless something else comes up, in which case I will obviously update this again.

You may have noticed that I credit this film as being directed by David A.R. White instead of Bobby Smyth as it is listed on IMDb. I have looked at numerous reviews and I can’t find anyone else that seems to have noticed this is an obvious pseudonym for David A.R. White. Let me explain.

David A.R. White is credited as directing the first Encounter movie. Do you really think he would entrust the sequel to someone who has absolutely no other credits to their name?

Of course he wouldn’t. He would helm it himself, or maybe co-direct it the same way he did with Me Again (2012).

The next bit is the name itself. The last name Smyth sure sounded familiar to me. It should sound familiar if you are a Baptist or have studied religion. John Smyth was one of the founders of the Baptists churches. He is also particularly noted for reconciling with the Mennonites near the end of his life.

According to the bio for David A.R. White, written by his own company Pure Flix Entertainment on IMDb, he grew up in a small Mennonite farming community outside of Dodge City, Kansas. Also, Smyth is a variation on Smith. The infamous pseudonym used over the years by many people is Alan Smithee.

The Bobby part is probably two-fold. First, it’s not Alan, which would be way too obvious. Second, the real star of this movie is an actor named Robert Miano. Miano has been in numerous Pure Flix films. That’s most likely where he got Bobby from.

Another thing takes us back to the movie Me Again. In that film, Bruce McGill plays a character named Big Earl. Big Earl is an anagram for Gabriel. As in the archangel Gabriel. So this kind of thing is in David A.R. White’s wheelhouse.

Finally, the movie has the same problems as The Encounter as well as another David A.R. White film called Redeemed (2014). It has his signature on this movie, which is especially noticeable because The Encounter and this film had different cinematographers. To me that says the director told them to shoot it this way, which means a common director between the two movies. There are also other little things as well. Unless someone actually called Bobby Smyth turns up, then it’s a pseudonym for who I can only conclude must have been White himself.

With that out of the way, let’s talk about the film.

Before giving us the title card, the movie gives us a little background information on the 2004 tsunami. This is another reason I’m sure it’s a pseudonym. The Mennonite’s have a thing called the Mennonite Central Committee. They responded to the tsunami by sending millions of dollars in aid. That tsunami is sort of a thing in the movie. Kind of. Just a minor plot point, but important enough that it gets a couple of title cards at the start.

Now we have to explain a little more. This is a bit like a Godfrey Ho movie. There is a Movie A and a Movie B that are spliced together. Not clumsily like Ho would do, but it is enough that it really is appropriate to discuss them as if they are two separate films.

Movie A:

Movie A opens up with DEA Agent Rik Caperna (David A.R. White) showing up in Thailand 7 years after the tsunami hit the region. He is itching to take down a drug kingpin named Bruno Mingarelli (Robert Miano).

Luckily, he spots him just as he pulls up in his car and Rik calls his boss. Since Bruno isn’t actually holding any suitcases or anything that could be holding drugs, his boss says to hold back. Rik doesn’t like that at all. He is given orders to stay in his car, which is exactly why he leaves his car to follow Bruno.

Now one of the parts that sort of connects the two stories together happens.

Jesus, played by Bruce Marchiano, appears, looks at Bruno, then disappears. To be honest, it’s a little weird. It’s something you would expect a slasher movie character to do before he finally gets down to the killing. Of course, that is exactly what Jesus is doing here except he is making these brief appearances to allude that Movie B is eventually going to happen.

Bruno has a bodyguard of sorts named Charlie Doles played by Gary Daniels.

Now we get a strange flashback that isn’t clear it’s a flashback. It’s of a little girl that we will find out later is, or represents, Rik’s sister who died when he was a kid because of drugs. It’s this lousy indication of when something is real or a flashback that was also present in Redeemed, which David A.R. White is explicitly credited as having directed.

Next we meet Bruno’s boss, and guess who?

It’s Kass Connors here to make barely an appearance just to let you know the Devil is around here somewhere.

Bruno is here to tell him that this will be his last shipment, but soon Rik is spotted outside, and the chase is on.

These scenes are actually shot reasonably well. Almost as if White is familiar with these kinds of movies so he had an idea of how to shoot these properly. These action oriented outdoor scenes are not a part of Movie B, and weren’t in the first film. Movie B and the first film are all close quarters dialogue heavy films. In other words, films like My Dinner With Andre (1981), Persona (1966), and the dialogue heavy works of Eric Rohmer. Or to put it even simpler, they are foreign films, but shot like they were done by someone who isn’t exactly familiar with those kinds of movies.

Getting back to the story of Movie A now, Rik catches up with Bruno and takes him into custody. One problem, he actually has no evidence whatsoever. As a result, the police show up and let Bruno go. Then Rik flips out, attacks the cops, and is taken into custody himself.

Now we go to meet Bruno’s drug addicted wife Mimi Mingarelli (Ammy Chanicha). Think of her as the nice girl who picked up the runaway from the first movie, except she’s a drug addict in this one.

Now we cut back to Rik in jail, and hey Rik!

Jesus, Man!

Look, if David wasn’t going to put in that priceless one-liner somewhere, than I had too. If you don’t know what that’s from, then here’s The Cinema Snob review of Second Glance (1992), which David A.R. White was in.

Now what you expect happens. By that, I mean Rik is let out of jail by his boss, and immediately goes to see the Devil.

After passing him a copy of the script for God’s Not Dead (2014), the Devil also gives him a gun and tells him to go after Bruno with his blessing.

I have no idea how he knew exactly where the Devil was. One minute he’s in jail being told he’s suspended by his boss, then he’s suddenly walking into the conveniently lit with red hallway to the room where the Devil is waiting.

Now the Devil places a call to Charlie telling him to let Rik kill Bruno, then to kill Rik.

Oh, and Jesus is out there in the ocean standing on the water. You know, as you do. Actually, I am glad they put some of these things in after the first film. I mean you have a character that is literally supposed to be Jesus. Let the man do his thing.

Rik catches up with Charlie, Bruno, and Mimi. He engages in a gun battle, but is taken hostage. Rik eventually breaks free, and Bruno is killed in the crossfire between Rik and Charlie.

Rik chases down Charlie and fights him. Rik nearly drowns Charlie to death, but decides not to, and instead bring him in properly so he can be tried for his crimes.

The last we see of Rik is him sitting on a beach being told by his boss that Bruno kept good records so they are going to be busy for a long time.

Movie A has come to an end. Time for Movie B!

Movie B:

Movie B opens up in 2004 with a black couple and their son Timothy (Steven Clarke). They are kind of like the black couple from the first one in that they are married, black, and the wife will end up wanting a divorce, but that’s really all they have in common with them. The wife wanting a divorce was ambiguous and kind of offensive in the first film. Here, we completely understand. She (Shelley Robertson) has every reason for wanting out of this situation the husband (Rif Hutton) has dug himself into and doesn’t appear to be emerging from anytime soon no matter what she does. The couple runs a resort in Thailand. Now Dad goes to sit down and talk with his son.

His son spent 4 years in pre-med, then decided to abandon it to become what they call a “doctor of divinity”. It’s kind of a wishy washy honorary theology type degree. The point is, he wants to help people by actually being a Christian and what they are supposed to embody. The father is a little perplexed as I would be myself. That is a lot of work to be tossed aside. Also, being a real medical doctor doesn’t preclude doing what he wants to do. In fact, he could do even more good being an MD that is willing to do things like Doctors Without Borders and Christian type aid programs. However, of course it’s his decision to make. His father seems to respect it even if he doesn’t completely understand it. Sadly, the son is killed by a 24 style countdown and a title card.

Next we see the father 7 years later ruminating about his son’s death. He also talks to him like he’s there, which he is because this is a Christian movie.

You can tell by the stink eye his son is giving him that he isn’t too happy with his Dad’s plan here. Neither is his wife happy with his inability to move on instead of not only digging a hole so deep that he’ll never get out but also dragging her into it as well. He is also so far gone that he doesn’t even want to evacuate as a new storm is approaching. That’s when Dad walks out into the water so David can try and fix the gun clip goof from the first Encounter movie.

In the first Encounter movie Jesus recounts a tale of how he saved the runaway girl from killing herself. He caused her abusive father to stumble so he would take the clip out of the gun he was carrying. The point being that when she picked up the gun it wouldn’t have any bullets in it. The problem was that the father set the clip right next to the gun, but then it disappeared when the camera cut to her coming into the room. That left me saying, “Thanks Jesus, but who moved the clip?” I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who noticed that mistake in the film. This is basically a repeat of that scene except you can see that the red dot is on indicating the safety is off. That isn’t just one quick shot either. They really make sure you get a good look at that gun to make sure you see the dot. It’s also there to build up some tension till Jesus tells him to put down the gun. Think that scene is going to go anywhere? Nope!

The next thing we see is Rik pulling up in a boat, the father putting the gun in his belt, and then Dad taking Rik away to show him the place. Now the gun battle breaks out and everyone in the story is taken hostage by Bruno and Charlie. That means the drug addicted wife, the married couple, and Rik tied to a chair in a room at the resort. Thus begins the Encounter as Jesus appears outside their window.

I must be right up front and say that despite the problems in this part of the film, Jesus is way more like Jesus than he was in the first film. In that one he was like someone selling a time share in Heaven or damnation just down the road. That said, let’s take a look at this part.

Jesus sits down next to the drug addicted wife. Of course he knows everyone’s name. They ask him what his name is and he doesn’t just come right out with Jesus. Again, he’s much more like a kind person in this then in the first movie. He doesn’t immediately dump the Jesus and believe in me stuff on them. He tends to talk to them like he’s just a person there who wants to defuse this otherwise deadly situation. In fact, he doesn’t say his name until he is explicitly asked by Bruno.

In this situation you can think of Charlie as the businessman in the first film. However, as Movie A shows, he isn’t sent to eternal damnation. He is given a chance to pay for his crimes in prison. Much better than the first film in this regard.

The next part that is worth mentioning is when Jesus takes some potshots at Buddhism. Mimi grew up in a monastery before ending up becoming addicted to drugs. She was then bought by Bruno who couldn’t stand seeing her the way she was, but also fell in love with her on sight. I could have done without that. It’s that whole teams thing. It’s not necessary in religion any more than gender. In fact, it’s not needed anywhere, but in sports where we emphasize having good sportsmanship.

She is the first person he tries to help. You can say he preys on her because she’s the weakest point. There’s something to that, but it also makes sense to start with her since she’s the easiest to fix. It also makes sense to start with her because aside from the married couple, the other’s lives revolve around victims like herself. Still, instead of working through her pre-existing religion, he tries to directly contradict it and convert her.

Throughout this there are problems with focus and other camera issues. Here’s an example.

The camera really doesn’t seem to know where to focus, tries to focus on Jesus after Bruno passes in front of him, then just quickly cuts away. There was a similar shot in the first film where the camera was changing from a background character to one in the foreground, but then just suddenly cut away.

Here’s another example.

Late in Movie B, Jesus reaches out and takes Rik by the hand. The focus, framing, and who is talking don’t come together properly in the shot. The hand holding is too low to really be a focal point. The focus leaves just about everything out of focus, but the hands. Yet, despite the hands being in focus, Jesus is the one doing the talking and is all blurry. This is the kind of thing that needed some work.

The next major plot point is that we find out the husband did some shady business deals to buy the hotel in the paradise of Thailand. Also, that while the mother never really believed her son was gone forever, he did, and his wife taking comfort in her beliefs drove him to the brink of suicide.

Oh, and then he heals Mimi.

Again, while Jesus does have his “join me” lines, he really is more like a good psychologist who just wants to help. Can’t tell you how refreshing that was after the first film, which was arduous to sit through, much less write about.

Another problem is that some times the camera spends so much time with a couple of the characters that the suspension of disbelief that all of the actors are actually in the room begins to wear thin. I don’t remember feeling that in the first film. This time around, I kept wondering if David A.R. White as Rik or Gary Daniels as Charlie were even around anymore. You’ll also see this shot…

several times where the camera pans as if to remind the audience of who is there and the layout of the room. That shouldn’t have had to be done if there was better camerawork that didn’t explicitly need this kind reorientation.

Oh, and just like several other elements are recycled from the first film, we get the equivalent of the two ladies in the bathroom scene. This time around, they are in the kitchen.

Let’s cut to the chase now. Jesus heals Mimi literally. Jesus brings the married couple around. Rik breaks free. Rik tries to shoot Charlie, but Bruno jumps in front of him to die for Charlie’s, or all of their sins if you will. That’s when Jesus opens the imaging chamber door…

and the two of them leave.

That’s where movie A picks up.

Oh, there is one final bit.

You didn’t really think you’d get away without some sequel baiting, did you? They did it at the end of the first film too. They are talking about Rik here who is sitting on the beach near them.

My final thoughts on this are that it feels like an aborted experiment. It feels like the movie was supposed to be about Rik and his journey while Jesus and the Devil fight for how he will deal with Bruno and Charlie. All the while, the two of them also fighting for the hearts and minds of Bruno and Charlie. However, for whatever reason, they had to toss that idea out the window after certain footage was already filmed and just go with a far less preachy and contradiction filled version of the first film. Too bad. I might have enjoyed that film better than I did this one. If you must see one of the Encounter films, then this is the better of the two. I doubt we will get another sequel till the God’s Not Dead gravy train ends for Pure Flix. Then they’ll probably take another crack at this franchise.

Film Review: The Encounter (2010, dir. David A.R. White)

Posted on November 18, 2015 by Valerie Troutman

A few months back Lisa suggested that after I finish with Hallmark movies I take a look at this film. Seeing as I am still battling the onslaught of Hallmark movies, I decided to just go ahead and take a look at it now. I have to admit, I was intrigued by the plot summary. I mean I know why God was running a bar on August 8th, 1953.

He was there to tell Dr. Sam Beckett that by making differences in the lives of those who he had met during his journey leaping around in time putting right what once went wrong that he had in turn touched more lives than he could imagine. He was also there to finally let Sam give the greatest gift he possible could to his friend and guardian angel Al. That being, to visit Al’s first wife Beth and tell her to wait just a little longer because Al would be found in Vietnam, and be repatriated. And of course, to bring the show Quantum Leap to a close. A show that, along with MacGyver and Real Genius, taught me not to be ashamed of being smart and different. That the world will always need smart people. Not just any smart people either. Smart people who leverage their intelligence to help others. Unconditional help, kindness, acceptance, and love. No membership or surrender required.

So let’s find out what God is doing at a roadside diner roughly 60 years later.

I started the DVD, and I know this isn’t the filmmakers fault, but should I really be seeing this on any film, let alone one that is supposed to be about an encounter with Jesus?

Apparently, I can be put in jail for up to five years and/or receive a $250,000 fine for making a copy of the DVD. At present, running a red light, which can kill people, will only get you about a $500 fine in California.

The movie opens up and we begin to be introduced to our characters. There is a young girl walking down a country road at night with fog around. A car is coming and instead of moving to the side of the road like a smart person would, she moves further into the middle of the road and swings her arms around. Even the most careful driver, which he isn’t by looking at his cellphone, can accidentally hit someone who isn’t wearing any reflective clothing standing on a dark foggy country road no matter where they stand. But, when we cut to the businessman inside the car and hear him say “what an idiot”, we are supposed to know he is a bad guy.

Next, we meet the characters who are the central focus of this film. They are a married couple. The wife obviously wants out of the marriage, but the husband clearly still cares about her. Just in case we don’t know the kind of person she’s going to be portrayed as, they have her say, “Yeah, as long as being me means being Mrs. Hank Miller.” in response to him saying, “I’m not stopping you from being you.” Sounds a little on the vague side. It never really gets any better than that. They too are traveling on this same road and spot the girl walking along it. He wants to pick her up, but his wife doesn’t. Again, meant to setup her character as needing redemption except it’s never safe to pick up hitchhikers no matter what their age might be. This doesn’t establish anything as far as she’s concerned, but it does show a lack of backbone in him. Oh, and by the way, she also steps out into the middle of the road again. She’s not the brightest person in the movie.

Next comes this lady who is also traveling on this road. See the subtitle? I’m glad I had them on because the voice is so low that I didn’t actually hear it. It’s supposed to be the voice of Jesus telling her to pick up the girl. He also tried to tell the husband to do the same thing, but since that didn’t pan out, he tried the next person who came along. Of course she does.

After a brief glance at the diner the film will take place in as one of them passes it, we meet one of two actors who are well cast in this movie.

This guy (Kass Connors) has an important role, and in the short time he’s on screen he’s good. He does look like he belongs on the set of an 80s slasher movie, but still. I guess I am a little biased seeing as he does remind me of the sheriff from The Boogieman episode of Quantum Leap where the Devil confronts Sam about fixing the things that the Devil made wrong.

He tells the people that the road is out. Seeing as the lady who picked up the girl spotted the Last Chance Diner, she suggests they go back to it. The officer tells them there “was a diner” and to “tell the guy at the diner Officer DeVille sent you.” Spoiler alert! He’s the Devil. Think they’re gonna explain why he has conveniently cut off the roads so these people will go and talk with Jesus? Then you are clearly watching the wrong movie. Remember, this movie could have the alternative title of Salvation: It’s Your Decision.

They go to the Last Chance Diner and we meet Jesus. And this shot is probably as good a time as any to point out a real systemic problem with this movie. Even if you have no issues with the material. Even if you know this is the kind of movie clearly made for you. It is poorly shot. As you can see actor Bruce Marchiano’s face is out of focus. That happens a lot in this movie. The camera is shaking all the time as well. There’s actually a point where the focus is moving from a character in the background to one in the foreground, but mid change it just cuts away to something else. For anyone watching this movie, these problems really do get annoying and get in the way of the film. And there are other such issues that I’ll point out as we go along.

Before I do continue, I want to mention that just as Kass Connors is well cast as the Devil, Bruce Marchiano is well cast as Jesus. He’s got the right looks for the role and the charisma. I just wish that he was given a more fleshed out and three dimensional character to play here. You do get a few brief glimpses of the kind of performance he could give with a better script, but then he has to go back to what has been written for him, which is unfortunate.

Before anything Jesus responds to a comment that the state trooper said his place was closed with that he has been trying to keep people away from him for years. Then he’s really lousy at it because he shut off the road giving them no choice but to turn around and go to the diner. I’m sure it all has to do with the free will thing. And by free will in this movie, I mean either become a Christian or the Devil is going to take you away. That is the only option given these characters. Jesus even stops time if you pay attention to the clock that never moves in his diner.

The first thing we learn, aside from his name, is that the only drink he serves is water. They even have Jesus say it’s “two molecules of hydrogen and one of oxygen.” His own recipe as he puts it. Think he’s gonna turn that into wine at some point? Nope, but somebody does ask him to do it. He just doesn’t. Have to admit I’m surprised he didn’t answer the request with: “Wouldn’t want to send you out onto the road tipsy, now would I?” Also, if he only serves water, then why are there signs on his wall offering Root Beer, Coke, and Lemonade?

I know the prices are meant to evoke the 1950s look of the diner, but considering he will immediately and consistently say he only serves water, then it’s confusing. They sort of explain it by saying he took over the diner from someone a long time ago, but still, it’s a sign right behind him saying he serves the very thing he says he won’t. It’s just another one of these little things that should have been fixed before the movie was finished.

Now of course people need to get some food. It goes without saying that the phone doesn’t work and that Jesus knows all their names. We learn that the businessman is an ex-football player who runs a chain of successful restaurants. When Jesus is asked for a recommendation on what to have for dinner, he says he has a special knack for knowing what people want and need. It also goes without saying that everything he’s going to offer is free. Course we’re talking free as in you have to accept all the things I ask of you or the Devil gets you. I think I would have preferred the food offered unconditionally to these people who are hungry. Then again, this isn’t a community kitchen at a Sikh temple, and it is a movie.

There’s a humorous little scene where the husband says it’s a little weird having Jesus ask if he wants fries with his meal, but I would find it a little weirder eating bread given to me by Jesus. You know, given the whole body of Christ thing. Whether it makes sense or not, I would think I’m kind of being a cannibal.

Oh, and inside the first 20 minutes of this movie he is already saying this.

He’s trying to cut to the chase here, but it is an 85 minute movie. I think it could have benefited by working towards that rather than just shoving it in everyone’s face right out of the gate. The wife and businessman respond by getting up and trying to leave in his car. By that I mean so that the movie can mention that they have essentially made a Twilight Zone episode.

I think it goes without saying that the car doesn’t start. Inside, the girl asks him basically to prove that he’s Jesus. That she could say she’s Britney Spears, but that it doesn’t make it so. So this is when Jesus performs a miracle which he can do cause he’s Jesus. Just kidding, he pulls out a driver’s license.

Then he just keeps rattling off things that are supposed to show he knows everything. Now is when he says he can save the one guys marriage if he just asks him to. Think that means he is going to have a heart to heart with the wife. Nope. She kind of just disappears from the film, then reappears and is more willing to give things another shot after just listening to everything else that happens. Five people worked to make this script the way it is. You’d think one of them could have made that happen. But I kind of lied earlier. While the married couple really are at the center of the story. It’s the businessman who gets the most attention.

Then this happens.

The restroom sign points to the left, but she walks to the right instead. I’d try and give them the benefit of the doubt and say the bathroom is outside, but considering a mistake later, I don’t think so. This happens several times.

Now we get one of those scenes where we get a glimpse of the kind of performance Bruce Marchiano could give with a more fleshed out character.

He talks with the businessman about his family, he comes across as someone who has been watching his life, and the lives of those around him. I could totally get behind a series of movies where Bruce Marchiano as Jesus goes around helping people. But that’s not really what you get here. He’s here to conduct the equivalent of a time share pitch meeting. This is when Jesus says that if he hadn’t intervened then they’d all be dead because the road was flooded. The businessman has a natural question that since he’s Jesus, he created the storm that caused the deadly conditions. Jesus responds that humans live in a “fractured creation” that caused the storm. Not exactly sure what he is referring to there, but I’d guess it has to do with the whole Garden of Eden story. But regardless, his next lines that say he took advantage of the situation to make a “personal appeal” means he’s working with the Devil because the only reason they returned to the diner was because the Devil told them the road was flooded and blocked them from using the road.

Oh, and this movie still has an hour to go at this point.

Now Jesus starts to lay into the married couple. The problem according to Jesus is that the husband was listening to his wife, not him. So, he just ignores her entirely? Of course not, the point is that the root of this unexplained problem is that she isn’t a real Christian. She snaps back that she goes to church on Sunday and teaches Sunday school. This is a job for Super Christian!

No such luck. She just storms off to the bathroom which still is apparently in the opposite direction of where the arrow is pointing. The nice lady joins her in the bathroom to talk to her. This conversation just reminds me that I do need to get around to watching Every Young Woman’s Battle since this whole marriage plot is based off of the material in that lecture.

There is a little back and forth where Jesus takes credit for acts that hurt people, but kept them from getting killed. It doesn’t matter because this is another time when we get a glimpse of the kind of performance we could have gotten from Bruce Marchiano. The businessman asks him “how many people are going to blow themselves up in your name today in the Middle East” or the people who “blow up abortion clinics”. Jesus says he never asked anyone to do those things. Then the businessman asks him whether he remembers “telling the Israelites to kill the Canaanites before they entered the Promised Land. Men, women, and children. Even the livestock.” He says we call that genocide. Jesus responds that he is “also holy and I cannot allow sin to go unpunished and that’s not just for my sake. It’s for yours. I don’t want you to wallow in sin and rebellion and guilt. I want you to thrive in unending peace and joy. There isn’t one human being on this planet that’s an accident. I hand formed you in your mother’s womb and I formed you for a purpose. I put before you a path of love and worship. And the degree with which you’ll enjoy experience love and joy and the good things of life is the degree to which you’ll bend to my will.” This of course gets the response that anyone who doesn’t bend you your will dies. Jesus says that not everyone needs to fear death. That believing in him essentially makes death inconsequential because as long as you believe, then Heaven is waiting for you.

First off, killing people is killing people no matter who or what you are. If he wants to not have people “wallow in sin and rebellion and guilt”, then why is he spending his time to talking to a handful of inconsequential people at a diner? Has he ordered any more people to die after the Bible was written? He keeps talking about being around all this time and interfering in people’s lives. For the better, but it means he’s taking actions here on Earth and apparently has a history of ordering mass killings. The rest is just comfort food that doesn’t really say anything. None of these things have actual answers to them, but if you’re going to lay things out for me and say I either receive eternal damnation or eternal happiness, then these questions need answers. At least he doesn’t break out the leap of faith line here.

Now we get some stories where Jesus apparently helped these people.

The first is from the nice lady. She was going to kill herself when a Christian friend of hers called her up to go to a Christian film festival. She says the movie was like nothing she had ever seen before. I don’t know what to say here except it’s depressing that this girls backstory is a plug for and encouragement to go see the very kind of movie you are watching. I can only assume that since I seriously doubt she was at a festival showing something like The Passion Of Joan Of Arc (1928), The Flowers Of Saint Francis (1950), Ordet (1955), The Gospel According To St. Matthew (1964), or even The Passion Of The Christ (2004). And they never give any details except that it felt like it was directed right at her.

Now he tells her that she can’t marry, or at least strongly suggests that she shouldn’t marry the man she was on the road to go to see. The reason is that this guy doesn’t believe in him. He goes on to give some reasons that seem reasonable, but it all comes back around to that he won’t believe and will hold her belief in him against her. In other words, this Jesus believes that people who don’t believe in him, are adversaries of those who do. I would write this off as just a specific case, and not generalize, but these are the same people who made God’s Not Dead. In that movie, Kevin Sorbo plays precisely the person he is describing. An atheist who resents his wife for her being a Christian. A man who does eventually come to Jesus, but only at the point of death. So, when he says he doesn’t want her to be “unequally matched”, he means only two Christians can truly love each other because they both love him and receive his greater love.

It’s also during this conversation that the boom mic drops into frame.

Cause of course it drops into the frame. It doesn’t seem to matter what I watch lately. The boom mic always makes a cameo appearance.

Then the businessman says something stupid. He actually compares their conversation to “Deal Or No Deal”. Ummm… have the writers actually watched that show? The whole show is a series of gambles that can fall in the contestants favor or not. He says that she should say “no deal”, but in the context of the show that means taking a gamble that there’s something beyond what you have in front of you in order to get something greater. Isn’t that exactly what Jesus is asking of her? To take a chance that instead of listening to the facts in front of her, that he is Jesus and knows what he is talking about.

Then Jesus says something stupid. He says that the businessman’s car wouldn’t start because “it’s not my will that anyone should perish.” Except didn’t you just get finished saying you ordered people massacred? I know religions and ideologies in general are full of contradictions, but why bring them into the movie? He also says he’ll never force himself on him or anyone. Except that’s what he’s been doing this whole time. People have a funny idea of what constitutes forcing something on people. Taking advantage of a situation to preach to people who would otherwise exercise their free will to leave is forcing. He says “what would be more unjust and unfair? For me to steal you at the moment of your death and force you to live in my presence and in my will for all eternity?” Except again, that’s kind of what he’s done here. They were going to die on the road so he closed it to give them all the option of either choosing to live in his presence and in his will for all eternity or leave and die. The only difference is he’s stealing them at the moment of death, then giving them a choice, which really isn’t a choice. He also says no one goes into hell blindfolded. He says “in one way or another, I’ve revealed myself to everyone.” Examples? The nice lady says that maybe if they could just see him. Jesus responds that “not even that would be enough.” Then what’s the point of revealing yourself explicitly to these people? I mean other than there wouldn’t be a movie otherwise.

But he just shifts topics. He starts in about Satan being a root of evil. He says “scratch any sin and just below the surface you’ll find pride.” While we are here, does all this talk about Heaven, Hell, and belief in him mean that anyone who doesn’t automatically goes to Hell? Because it sure sounds like that when you watch this movie. The writers then throw in a little bit about “hoping from bed to bed” for the abstinence crowd, but couch it with “to just satisfy themselves no matter who it hurts”. Oh, and by the way, right after he says that, it cuts to the husband. Is that why the marriage is on the rocks? She’s been sleeping around? It never says.

Now at roughly the 53 minute mark, he finally brings the food they asked for. And there’s still 40 minutes of this left. Go figure! It’s the best food they’ve ever had. This is also when the wife comes around. It kind of comes out of nowhere.

This is when we get the second example of how Jesus helped one of these people in a major way. It comes when we finally get the story of the girl who was walking on the road. During her story she pulls back her shirt to reveal a scar.

And by scar, I mean something that looks more like a peeling sunburn. I can’t say I’m super familiar with all the different types of scars, but I have more than my fair share of ones from being cut. Regardless, after the movie cuts, it looks more like an actual scar.

Now we learn more. Apparently, she tried to blow her head off with a gun, but it turned out there were no bullets in it. Jesus had a part in this as we learn. He made sure her stepfather stumbled so that he would take out the clip from the gun.

That was nice, but who picked up the clip between that shot and the next, when it suddenly isn’t next to the gun anymore.

During this heart to heart with the girl Jesus asks her if she will “forgive all those people who hurt you, even as I forgive you?” I get the forgiving you bit cause the movie is for people who believe suicide is a sin against God, but why is he asking her to do something he has stated he can’t do. He said he ordered women and children killed because he considers himself holy and they were sinning against him, just as those who have sinned against her. Again, contradictions you find in things like religion, but if you aren’t going to address them, then why put them into the film like this? It doesn’t do the religion any favors. Then Jesus in order to relate to her pulls back his sleeve to reveal where he was crucified and blames it on the sins committed by people such as her stepfather.

And just in case we weren’t sure that that businessman is an atheist and that all atheists are evil, he gives a stupid speech about how Jesus doesn’t even merit his attention to hate. That he treats him with indifference. Jesus digs into him about how he is the way he is because he caved into pressure. An example being that he dropped his accent because he was embarrassed about it. This manages to reach the businessman somewhat. We even get a flashback to when his grandmother fed him a piece of pie. A lot of this is standard stuff, but for the film the problem isn’t that he ignored his past, doesn’t treat people well, and it’s not even pride as this film suggests. It’s that he doesn’t believe in Jesus, and as a result, all of these problems spring to life. That the solution is Jesus. The businessman asks him “what kind of weak-willed man do you think I am?” To which Jesus responds that he’s “the kind of man who hasn’t opened himself up to unconditional love since he was a child.” Back the movie up a little bit and Jesus says that Hell is a place where love doesn’t exist. Hell is a place where those who don’t believe in Jesus go. So if you don’t believe in Jesus, then you go to a place without love. That’s called conditional love. He never says I continue to love those who go to Hell. That means, according to this film, the love of Christ is conditional.

Never thought I’d say it, but thank goodness Satan now shows up to bring a stop to all this.

Satan says he’s surprised he’s still in business. That he’s surprised anyone is buying what he’s selling. Jesus responds that he isn’t selling anything. Could have fooled me. Earlier in the film you said you took this opportunity to make this impassioned plea to these people. You were trying to sell them on the idea of believing in you as their lord and savior. Again, not necessarily issues with the religion, but with this movie. The Devil says that the road is all clear and they can all now leave. What took him so long? The clock stopping thing is an easter egg in this movie. It’s not brought up. So it’s not like we are supposed to think the Devil has been frozen out there this whole time. And again, why did he close the road in the first place? Several of these people would probably have gone to Hell in addition to the businessman. It doesn’t makes sense from the Devil’s position. At least we do get to see Jesus do the Darth Vader neck grip thing here.

As he does it he says, “four set free”. Then Satan says, “we’ll meet again.” Sequel bait! But there’s a little more left. Jesus now tries to justify to himself why it’s perfectly fine for him to let this guy go to his death because at least he did all he could. Short of making the road no longer dangerous. I guess it’s better that he dies, then continues to live?

Ah, rest in peace Ronnie James Dio who happened to die the same year this film came out. And by the way, the horns thing doesn’t have to do with the Devil. I’m getting really sick of jackasses holding things like that over ignorant people. It’s an Italian thing to either ward off the evil eye or give it. Here’s a picture of Sophia Loren doing it in Ghosts, Italian Style (1967) to ward off ghosts.

Now cut back to the diner, basically to give some parting words which include “that book has all the wisdom you need for your life.” Just in case you weren’t sure this was made for Protestant Christians. He also basically gives the husband a little pat on the back. Then he tells the wife that her husband loves her, but not as much as he does. It’s nothing to read anything into, but it’s interesting that he tells the three girls he loves them, but just gives the husband a little wink and a nod. Just seems a little odd to me. That’s all.

Then we get what we all knew in the first place.

The diner doesn’t exist, the officer they dealt with doesn’t exist, and that the businessman died in a car crash. Seriously, the movie could have ended on the nice lady leaving the diner. Well, then they show this to make sure we know there’s a sequel called The Encounter: Paradise Lost (2012).

It’s the director of this film David A.R. White who is being asked that question by Jesus who has apparently gone to the tropics for the sequel. I have that movie in front of me right now. I probably don’t need to watch it seeing as Jesus was obviously not successful. David A.R. White would go on to produce and star in one of the most slanderous, hateful, ignorant, and anti-Christian films I have ever sat through called God’s Not Dead (2014). And I’ve sat through Jud Süß (1940) and The Eternal Jew (1940).