Summary
4 tech score
Stephen Baldwin in “Faith of Our Fathers”; photo courtesy of Pure Flix Entertainment
“Faith of Our Fathers” (Pure Flix Entertainment)
“Faith of Our Fathers” is a movie with a lot of potential. Its story deals with two men searching for the truth about their deceased fathers. There are strong messages in this film about honor, valor and faith but the presentation of the story is faulty and the impact of the film’s values get lost until the very end.
John Paul George, yes that is his name, (Kevin Downes) is a postman who has inherited his mother’s home. He is sorting through some of the boxes in her house and comes upon one that includes papers concerning his father. John Paul does not know much about his father because he was killed in Vietnam when John Paul was a small boy.
These papers include the name of Eddie Adams, who was in service with John Paul’s father Stephen. He decides to try to get in touch with him and eventually tracks him down to Louisiana. On impulse he goes to Louisiana and to Eddie Adams’ home. There he finds Eddie’s son Wayne (David A. R. White) who tells him his father also died in the war.
The two men decide to go on a road trip to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, DC. At this point the movie focuses on their crazy adventures on this road trip. John Paul proves to be a completely naïve man in regards to the ways of the world and Wayne is a man with a checkered past.
The characters as written border on the absurd, and the “adventures” come off as silly. Most of it is comedic and that grates against the solemn overall purpose of the movie. When the time comes at the end of the film for the story to be taken seriously it has lost most of the interest and confidence of its audience.
Downes and White are fairly good actors but not good enough to make up for the gaps lacking in the characters they are given to portray. You never get an actual feel for who these men are. Candace Cameron Bure has a brief role as John Paul’s fiancé but her role is written as that of a shrewish woman more concerned about her upcoming wedding than in her fiancé’s well being. This makes it difficult for her to bring her natural likability to the screen. Si Robertson has a brief cameo as a man who looks a lot like and acts a lot like Si Robertson.
The film is rated PG-13 for violence.
With a better script the movie could have made an impact, especially on the members of the audience who are Christian believers. They are the ones for whom this comedy/drama is aimed. But even for the faithful, sticking with the story till the end will prove difficult.
I scored “Faith of Our Fathers” a religious 4 out of 10.
