Grace of God Movie Review and Giveaway

Having lost his faith many years ago, Detective Bill Broadly is called to investigate the disappearance of the local church’s collection plate. As he questions its various church members, rumors swirl as more congregants learn about the theft. When one unexpected church-goer confesses to stealing the funds, the confession resurrects Broadly’s views on God, and helps him see that through faith and belief there really is rebirth and redemption. 

OBM says:  I was attracted to this movie initially by its story line and its stellar cast (Erin Bethea from Fireproof, John Ratzenberger from Cheers and a ton of movies, and Lorenzo Lamas from Falcon Crest and The Bold and the Beautiful).  Neither of those things disappoints.  Grace of God tells the story of a church that finds $30,000 missing from the collections.  In their attempts to find out where the money went, to be good stewards of that which was entrusted to them, they end up hiring a PI who is hostile toward the idea of God.  It makes for lots of tension, but also allows for the movie to be about more than just recovering the funds-it becomes about recovering a soul.  Detective Bill Broadly gets drawn in by some key people in the church and begins to see them not as a lump of "Christians" but as real people with real flaws and real hearts changed by God.  The movie also highlights that wrong is wrong no matter how noble the purpose, and that God's grace is real.  When the culprit comes forward, the people have the chance to show God's mercy, but there is also a potential, real consequence in how the culprit's confession might affect the delicately growing faith of the detective.  You'll have to watch the movie to see what happens.
     The one criticism I would offer is that John Ratzenberger's part is almost unnecessary.  He introduces the story, but by the end I had completely forgotten about him...until the final scene where they close with his sermon.  The sermon seems incongruous to me.  The pastor of the church in question (not Ratzenberger) delivers a fabulous sermon where he confesses to being a thief, and it prompts lots of confessions from his congregation.  Without giving too much away, I'll just say that impacts his decision to be merciful.  But then Ratzenberger's sermon (he's a friend of the other pastor, and is relating this story to his congregation) addresses the commandment not to steal, and that stealing can be big or little or of tangible things or intangible things, and it's still stealing...and then it ends with him saying that that commandment also gives us the right to own property. And then he prays...the end.  I didn't get it.  I think the movie would have been stronger without the cut back to Ratzenberger, as his message, while good, almost seems to undermine the idea of grace to me. And I'm just puzzled as to what the comment about the right to own property has to do with anything the movie is about.
     Anyway, even with that being said, that takes about 2 minutes of the 99 minutes of the film.  I enjoyed the rest.  While this movie isn't rated, it did receive a Dove rating:

There isn't anything too bad in it.  In one scene two guys come to blows for a second, and in a few others there is talk of domestic violence with a quick showing of a bruise, but I'd say the rating is justified because the bulk of the movie is just dialogue, and it won't hold the attention of younger kids.  My 13 year old son wandered in, and ended up staying for the whole thing.  He pronounced that it was, "a pretty good movie" when it was over.  That's high praise from a 13 year old for a movie that doesn't involve fast car chases, anything blowing up, or any superheros.

Walmart is the official distributor for Grace of God.  So you can find the #GraceofGodMovie @Walmart.

To win a copy of Grace of God for yourself, just enter the drawing below:
(Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway.  If you win the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win again.  Winners will be verified.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway