In 2019’s Play the Flute, Brett Varvel plays Brandon Cobb.
Brandon has just been hired as youth minister at a suburban church. Brandon is young and ambitious and his hope is to build the church’s youth ministry into one of the largest in the city. Instead, he discovers that the church’s teenagers are, for the most part, a bunch of spoiled brats who refuse to read and learn their assigned Bible verses. Apparently, they’ve managed to chase off every youth minister they ‘ve had. Will Brandon be able to get through to them?
My question, though, is why Brandon is the one who has to get through to them. Where are the parents in this mess? Loretta Swit does turn up as one concerned parent but her daughter, who speaks with a stammer, doesn’t even want to go the youth group because of some boys who keep making fun of the way she talks. (I stuttered up until I was about 12 so I could relate.) But where are the other parents? A church youth group is not like high school. You’re not legally required to attend. Your parents aren’t going to be charged if you get caught skipping. The kids are obviously in the youth group because their parents took them to church and told them to attend. So, shouldn’t the parents be the ones who get yelled at when their out-of-control brats chase off a youth minister?
Brandon struggles. No one laughs at his Dad jokes. His attempts to open up about his past are met with stony silence. This youth group is hardcore! Finally, Brandon challenges the worst member of the youth group gang to a race. Brandon loses the race to the younger man but everyone is impressed by his determination. He was willing to humiliate himself just to get them to listen to him. And so, they start to listen.
The film is narrated by one of Brandon’s former students, who explains that Brandon has recently died. At first, I thought maybe Brandon had a heart attack after challenging a much younger man to a footrace. Instead, Brandon died of cancer. Brandon may be gone but his students will always remember him and cherish the memory. That’s kind of sweet.
This is another Rich Christiano film. Christiano, along with his brother Dave, was one of the pioneers of modern faith-based filmmaking. He’s been directing and producing films since the early 90s and the format has always remained the same. A Christiano film is usually rather talky, has a few moments of boomer humor, and typically ends on a sentimental note. That’s certainly the case with Play the Flute, a very slow movie that seems to have its heart in the right place.
Christiano did manage to get a few familiar faces for the film. (At least, they’re familiar if you watch a lot of old television shows like I do.) I already mentioned Loretta Swit as one of the mothers. Clint Howard shows up as the manager of a restaurant who is upset to learn that his employees have been screwing with the time clock. And Fred Grandy — GOPHER! — shows up as a minister. One thing I recently learned is that Fred Grandy actually served in the U.S. House of Representatives after he appeared on The Love Boat. We need more former sitcom stars in politics. I’m looking at you, Matt LeBlanc!
Anyway, where as I? Oh yeah. This movie was inoffensive but not particularly compelling. Who knew church youth groups were such a hotbed of rebellion?
Through the Shattered Lens 