Ragamuffin- Based on the Life of Rich Mullins- A Movie Review

If those "Most likely to..." awards that are so popular in high school year books were awarded today, I would win the "Most likely to not have a clue about current events or pop culture, Christian or otherwise."  So let me be honest with you.  Rich Mullins name was vaguely familiar,but I knew nothing about him.  Nothing.  Well, except for the information below that they sent me about the DVD.  And I was intrigued.  A Christian musician who leaves it all behind and goes to live on a Navajo reservation?  That's not your typical farm-boy-turned-successful-musician story to be sure.  So I wanted to learn more.  Just in case you are as in the dark as I was, here is the "official" information about the movie and about Rich Mullins:

RAGAMUFFIN is based on the life of Rich Mullins, a musical prodigy who rose to Christianmusic fame and fortune only to walk away and live on a Navajo reservation. Anartistic genius, raised on a tree farm in Indiana by a callous father, Richwrestled all of his life with the brokenness and crippling insecurity born ofhis childhood. A lover of Jesus and a rebel in the church, Rich refused to lethis struggles with his own darkness tear him away from a God he was determinedto love. As he struggled with success in Nashville and depression in Wichita,Rich desired most of all to live a life of honest and reckless faith amidst aculture of religion and conformity.

Singer and songwriter Richard Wayne “Rich” Mullins was best known for his worship song “Awesome God” which has been embraced as modern classics by many Christians.His music has been covered by many artists, including Caedmon’s Call, AmyGrant, Jars of Clay, Michael W. Smith, Third Day, John Tesh, and HillsongUnited. Mullins’ musical career formally began with Zion Ministries in the late1970s, where he wrote music and performed with a band called Zion. Mullins first solo hit, “Awesome God,” appeared on his third album andbrought his music to a wider audience. Rich Mullins was inducted into the Hallof Fame by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) on April 29, 2014.

OBM's thoughts:  This isn't the type of movie you "enjoy" for its entertainment value.  It's tough.  It's gritty.  His faith is so real, but so are his demons.  His father is terribly unkind to him, never approving of him, no matter how successful.  He handles major problems with an excess of liquor and he smokes.  In short, he's real.  He's a sinner saved by grace, and he is never really comfortable trying to be anything but the real him.  Fame didn't appeal to him, and he never gave up being true to himself and God by preaching from the microphone during his concerts even if it might mean loosing that fame by not pleasing the masses and telling them what they wanted to hear.  There is no happy ending to this movie.  The back of the box expresses it well, "His life was a whirlwind.  His music was honest.  His faith was reckless."  Though it's not rated, I'd put it in the category of PG13 because it's more of a mental movie than an action flick and it does have some intense topics and drinking.  But it's also got some wonderful one-liners about faith and God, and I'd really love my older kids to sit down and watch it.  Rich Mullins was a ragamuffin, but he was deeply and passionately in love with Jesus, and we could all stand to be a little bit more like that.

To buy Ragamuffin, you can go to Ragamuffin-The Movie.


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