User reviews

I took my wife to see this on or little getaway this week. It was a pretty well made movie. In my opinion it was much better than God's Not Dead. The characters, the plot lines, and the acting were all more relatable in this film. So I wouldn't tell people who didn't like God's Not Dead to write this one off.

Don't get me wrong, the film had it's faults. Some of the character's story lines were kind of silly. However, the acting made up for the bad writing in some parts, especially in the case of Brian Bosworth (Joe) and Makenzie Moss (Lily). These two stole every scene they were in. Kudos to them.

While I went in expecting the film to be a Crash-like film, I didn't expect the climax to be pretty much exactly the same. It still worked, and it was well made. But the fact that it was basically a remake of that climax kind of stole a little of the thunder for me.

I've seen 3 or 4 Pureflix films now, and I've noticed two things:

1. They have a knack for finding amazing child actors. The children they cast in this film and Christmas Angel all pretty much stole the show.

2. The other films are all better than God's Not Dead. It's puzzles me to know that film has been their biggest financial success when watching some of their other films.

At the end of the day, I don't think this film will convert anyone or change any lives, but it's a good film to watch with the family (it might be a little too much for the younger kids). If you're not Christian, watch it as a curiosity and be aware of that it's a Christian film going in. It's not as preposterous as God's Not Dead, and it's a pretty impressive film for it's low budget.

It's difficult to credibly review a faith-based film. No matter what you say/write, people will assume that your opinion, whether positive or negative, is unduly influenced by your own personal religious convictions, whether pro or con. Anyone who sees a lot of movies for the purpose of reviewing them will inevitably feel compelled to see a movie that he or she didn't really want to see. The reviewer's obligation, however, is the same whether he/she wanted to see the movie or not – to be as open-minded and objective as possible and judge the movie fairly based on entertainment value alone. In fact, that's part of the joy in reviewing movies – being pleasantly surprised, coming across an undiscovered gem – and telling others about it, so they can consider seeing that movie and maybe have a similarly positive experience. Having said all that, I went to see "Do You Believe?" (PG-13, 1:55) without any agenda to trash it or praise it, but to judge it on entertainment value alone, which is what I'm about to do…

From the producers of 2014's "God's Not Dead", "Do You Believe?" asks the title's question – and the follow-up question: if so, what do you do about it? – in a variety of ways. The film is part sermon, part morality play and part human drama which follows the stories of 12 Chicagoans as they are each forced to answer one or both of those questions, depending on where each is in his/her spiritual journey and whether he or she responds positively or negatively to the Christian message, as presented. That message is the mainstream evangelical Christian message of making a conscious decision to repent of your sins and trust Jesus Christ for your salvation. But the movie isn't just about getting "saved". In asking that second question, the movie takes a strong stand that a sincere belief in Christ requires the commitment of a changed life that follows the example set by Jesus in the Bible, as much as humanly possible.

The movie's main character, Pastor Matthew (Ted McGinley) is asked that first question by a street preacher named Malachi (Delroy Lindo), answers in the affirmative, and then gets the follow-up question, which makes him wonder whether his faith in God is being sufficiently demonstrated in the things he does. The point is hammered home dramatically when Matthew witnesses Malachi confront four young black men stealing a van and refusing to back down when the gang's leader, known as Kriminal (Senyo Amoaku) points a gun at Malachi's head and threatens him before driving off. Matthew isn't the only one affected by this scene. Kriminal's younger brother, Pretty Boy (Shwayze), sitting in the passenger seat of that van, wonders aloud if Malachi might be right. Matthew gives a sermon in which he challenges his spiritual flock not only to believe in the Gospel intellectually, but to do something about it. This sermon, and the small wooden crosses everyone in the church that night received, set into motion a series of events that affect all the movie's main characters.

The lives of these 12 people intersect, much the way that the lives of several Angelinos intersected in 2006's Best Picture Oscar Winner, "Crash". Pretty Boy literally stumbles into the church as that sermon is in progress and is invited into the sanctuary by Joe (Brian Bosworth), a gentle giant of a man who tells P.B., "I've been where you are." Joe had earlier shown the sincerity of his faith by inviting a homeless woman named Samantha (Mira Sorvino) and her young daughter Lily (Makenzie Moss) to stay at his place for the night. Later in the movie, J.D. and Teri (Lee Majors and Cybill Shepherd), still grieving the tragic loss of their daughter, also meet and reach out to Samantha and Lily. Meanwhile, Pastor Matthew and his wife (Tracy Lindsey Melchior) similarly reach out to a homeless pregnant teenager (Madison Pettis). An EMT (Liam Matthews) reaches out on the job and shares his faith with a dying man and won't apologize to the widow, for which Bobby's wife (Valerie Dominquez) criticizes him and the widow's lawyer (Andrea Logan White) sues him. Rounding out the main cast are a Marine (Joseph Julian Soria) whose tour in Afghanistan left him with a bad case of PTSD and a young suicidal woman (Alexa PenaVega) who reach out to each other, while Dr. Farell (Sean Astin), the token atheist/agnostic in the story, watches, participates in and reacts to many of the movie's goings-on with disgust.

"Do You Believe?" is a surprisingly entertaining piece of propaganda. The movie carries a clear message and doesn't try to hide its agenda, but presents some of the non-believers as one-dimensional caricatures, much like the film's producers did in "God's Not Dead", but the most of the characters are a bit more nuanced in this film. We do see non-believers do good things, and we see believers struggling to do the right thing, and not always making the best choices. What helps sell all this is the most talented, experienced and well-known group of actors that I've ever seen in a faith-based film. Among others, this cast includes an Oscar winner (Sorvino), the star of several classic movies (Astin, from "The Goonies", "Rudy" and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy), a very accomplished movie and TV actor (Lindo), actors whose TV careers span most of the past six decades (McGinley, Shepherd and Majors) and a former NFL player (Bosworth). The script weaves together all the characters' stories brilliantly. Almost every character I mentioned above interacts with at least three of the others and the action culminates in a surprisingly dramatic third act. There's a bit of melodrama here and an intentionally one-sided message which dismisses all other points of view, but this is still a pretty entertaining film. "B"

I trust IMDb to tell me what is worth my time to watch. I saw the bad rating on this movie, and watched it anyway.

I can't see how anyone, except someone who hates Christians could rate this movie badly. It's about being people doing good, even when it's hard. What's wrong with that?

It's interesting that a movie that reflects good gets a rating of 5.3, but if you have a movie about vampires, witches, werewolves, or murder from beginning to end you get outstanding ratings.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who believes in the greater good, rather they believe in Christ or not.

Poorly written, poorly acted, poorly researched, overly melodramatic, heavy-handed choir-preaching. Can't wait to see this cast again in their next Walmart ad!

Oh, and black characters as stereotypes? In a David A. R. White movie? NO WAY! Who knew?

And I had no idea that you could opt for a non-medically necessary abortion at 9 months pregnant!

Seriously, this movie is insane. I go in there and I see a movie where literally nothing supernatural happens, and it's supposed to be an argument for God. Meanwhile, believers are going in there and inferring miracles and design all throughout the whole thing.

You're writing a work of fiction and even then you can't have god do anything more miraculous than things that might very easily happen otherwise?

This movie is from the same company that did The Encounter, which has Jesus and Satan appearing to people in a diner. They're not shy about the miraculous stuff. But I guess they have to tone it down for the theatrical releases.

Christians will get it. They will understand that the subplots, twists and turns of life are intricately woven into a careful masterpiece that we call life. When we went into the theater, I was not anticipating much. Based on other movies that do not connect multi-plots well, I decided this would be a "feel good" story that would relay a good message to the youth group I was with. Thankfully, and much to my surprise, I was wrong. The movie was seamlessly interactive. The characters were developed well enough to convey an "everyman" message, about people from all walks of life and how we can all affect one another, in a positive or negative way.

The movie is not about winning an Oscar, it is about winning people over, by providing hope with inspiration for all to change for the betterment of all humanity.

I'm in ministry, and I'm all about using art to share the gospel... but this movie is just not good. The writing's bad, the acting is stiff, and the concept is pretty much a less interesting Christian version of "Crash". It also played into some racially insensitive stereotypes: the criminals were all black, the black mother gave threats of "whoopins", the unmarried pregnant girl was Latina, and all the good guys were white. I'll give the benefit of the doubt and say these things were unintentional by the writers, but the racial undertones were still obvious to those paying attention. It seems the message of the movie is trying to reach non-Christians, but it's so full of "Christianese" language and phrases that the only people who will have any idea what the heck they're talking about are those who already believe. I'm not against using film and all art forms to proclaim Jesus, but I am against doing it badly. Christians need to be creative and original, and not just emulate (poorly) what is being done in the "secular" movie and music industries. If we are to hold ourselves to higher standards throughout life, let's hold ourselves to higher standards when it comes to making art as well.

This is certainly one of the best christian movies that I have ever seen. I was able to relate to several characters in this movie. This movie is for Christians who do not yet know how to put their faith in practice. Moreover, this film shows how you can have serious impact in this world if you decide to help your neighbor. The audience is not only asked the question whether they truly believe or not, but also what they are going to do about it. Overall, the movie has a good plot and an inspiring message.

This film is exceptionally emotional at times. It delivers strong characters with compelling dramatic arcs. The movie challenges Christians to live better lives and take stock of how they live and what they truly believe.

It certainly isn't a subtle movie in any way. It's a sledgehammer of a Christian film and, sometimes, a sledgehammer is the right tool for the job. The movie is pure Christian faith and what it means to the characters depicted. That may not be the level of faith all Christians are able to achieve but it should be the goal. Films like this are a reminder as well as a message to live life at the highest level possible. Yes, there is a certain level of cheese on display in a few plot lines but it's wonderful and satisfying cheese.

I do love the fact that, unlike other Christian films that I've seen, they brought out top tier acting talent. These performances were amazing top to bottom. Obviously everyone knows Mira Sorvino, Cybill Shepherd and Sean Astin can bring it but journeymen actors like Ted McGinley and Lee Majors give what may be the best performances of their career. I'm stunned to say that even The Boz was very very good. Who knew Brian Bosworth had that type of performance in him?

Overall, for those of Faith this movie is a must see. For those who are lacking Faith, it just may be an eye opener.

You don't have to be a Christian or, indeed, a believer of any kind to enjoy movies (or books, or plays) that have Christian themes, or that clearly promote a message. Such themes are very subtly played out in Gabriel Axel's 'Babette's Feast,' less subtly in the Narnia stories and Lord of the Rings, and rather blatantly in, for example, Ben Hur, to give only a few examples. All these have in common that they tell engaging stories in either dramatic settings, or with vivid, engaging characters, or both.

'Do you believe?' has insipid, cardboard-cutout characters and no genuine drama whatever. I can't trash it completely, because it's decently acted with competent cinematography -- a slick package, in fact. So slick, in fact, as to be suspicious. This is a movie that is clearly designed to push a product, and any artistic or dramatic interest it might raise is clearly a device, directed toward that end.

Although the movie is frequently described as "Christian," in reality it promotes a particular kind of US, affluent, protestant Christianity. One of the characters is a tame pastor whose role is merely to expound the doctrine of substitutionary atonement and keep everybody on message. I suspect that if you were, say, a Catholic, or Eastern Orthodox, that message would grate on you almost as much as it would on an atheist.

It wouldn't be so bad if the message were not delivered in such a plodding, heavy-handed manner. All the Christian Characters are shown as self-sacrificing, noble, and charitable; everybody else as in some way defective. The non-Christians exist solely to act as foils to the Christians, and highlight their Godly virtues.

I know from personal experience that most Christians are as prone to be conflicted and self-interested as anybody else, even if they aspire to higher ideals. But there's little sense of that aspiration in the movie -- even the putative "bad guys" are just good guys who have fallen in bad company, and just need a little nudge from the Big G to become fully-fledged saints. There's no sense that anybody struggles with his or her faith, or is put into real danger by it. The biggest risk that any character in the movie faces for standing up for his principles is to lose his job. Big deal -- it's not example martyrdom, is it? If you are already a Christian -- in particular, a protestant evangelical Christian -- then I guess this movie might give you a warm fuzzy. Anybody else, anybody who can look beyond the slick facade and see the not-very-subtle manipulation, will wish we hadn't stopped throwing Christians to the lions.

I question the value of IMDb Ratings when the average rating is polarized, with a dominant percentage (43) at 10, and a significant percentage (29) at 1, with very few in between.

The actual user reviews are highly favorable, with only 3 highly unfavorable. So, there are just a lot of trash voters too lazy or inarticulate to really review the movie to give their reasons, just the thumbs up or thumbs down minimal input.

My wife and I decided to go see what it was all about, especially with a couple of former "A" list actors involved.

The divided vote was reflected by the content's portrayal of real life; how the stories of 12 people converge one night. The perspective is of how life intertwines, good and evil, comedy and tragedy. For us it evoked a lot of emotions, as we had several parallel stores in our lives. Broken relationships, disease, death, depression, violence, the gamut of human condition that have us questioning God.

Some of the characters had a common guiding principle in their lives, others only their own benefit. Still, life went on and paths crossed changing some character's opinions based on actual experiences.

For us the aggressive plot moved along at a quick pace, the character development was a but sketchy because of the 12 stories, but in the end it all fit together. Lots of tears, more of joy than sadness.

From our perspective it was very well done for a low budget Christian movie, obviously appealing to those who believe, and perhaps graphic and life like enough to set an example for the critics when they come to a life bridge to cross.

This was a pretty good movie. I liked how the plot lines came together, but I found some of the acting stilted. Even so, it was enjoyable and worth watching.

It is unfortunate that this movie is currently getting such a low rating on IMDb because it is a quite a good movie and it isn't a fair representative of the quality. There are many Christian movies out there, some of them very low quality and low budget, often not very well made that I am fairly critical of. This is not one of those movies.

I am a youth director and took 8 youth (both junior high and high school) and 3 adults to go watch the movie and every one LOVED it. There wasn't a dry eye in the place - it is touching and inspiring.

Look here is the deal: there are some cheesy moments in the movie. But it is a powerful story, over all VERY well told, and has a needed message: faith without works is dead.

I am giving this movie an 8/10. I thought about bumping it up because of the low rating it had been given, but as a movie critic I think this is the fair and actual rating it deserves. It is a GREAT movie (and very few movies will I give a 9 or 10).

If you do not like Christianity then you will probably not like this movie.

If you are a Christian, I highly recommend it!!

This was a great movie and it is encouraging that there are more Christians in Hollywood then originally thought just that the ones that aren't are the loudest. I read a post that said there was only one black guy in the movie, once again about race and ask which race is perpetuating it. Anyway check the cast on IMDb and you will see that there are more black then one I can think of 6 with out looking. The movie was great so I recommend everyone with and open mind to see it for what it is. Propaganda? Propaganda is trying to make you think one way this movie is trying to tell you about the cross and let you decide which way you want to think.

From an innocuous beginning, to a climax that left me speechless, this movie did not disappoint. The many characters were all real, believable people. Kudos to Bozworth, Sorvino, and Astin for their portrayals. In Addition to them, seeing Lee Majors in this was a pleasant surprise. Cybill Shepard did a good job as his reluctant and grieving wife. As for the brothers in the poor black family, you will not be able to forget Pretty Boy and Kriminal. If you know someone who has returned from combat in the last 20 years, this has a man that even a WW2 generation can relate. Great camera work on the bridge scenes, hospital locale, and nice overhead shots of the Windy City. Worth the time and money to see!

It's not easy pulling off an anthology movie, Christian-themed or not. The task of writing multiple stories, giving time for each character to grow, then bringing them all together for a believable climax seems to fail more often than not. Do You Believe? does an excellent job of creating multiple characters/story lines I cared about!

The acting is solid throughout, with my biggest compliment (and surprise) going to Brian Bosworth. His character's innate warmth resonates in every scene he's in. It's not a big, flashy part but it suits his talents well and he nails it. Ted McGinley also scores high marks as a pastor who just wants to do the right thing.

As I mentioned earlier, pulling off an anthology film is not an easy task and yes, there will be some who'll say the ending is clichéd, having all these characters intersect. But that's the point! God wants a personal relationship with all of us and He can use our lives however He sees fit. If you're a Christian, you'll get it. If not, give the movie a chance and see where it leads your heart.

This movie pretends to overcome doubts, but it actually creates more doubts.

The chances that the viewer develops out of that patchwork of mostly anti-Christian and some pro-Christian fragments the birds-eye view of THEOS and takes away something positive he can build a new faith or support his or her existing faith, are sadly dwindling small.

PROS

+ Matthew presents a beautiful example of how to serve THEOS not only in church, but also in his private life.

+ The movie includes some other beautiful examples of people caring for strangers, and finding healing themselves in that process.

+ Great display of Bobby saving the life of the lawyer.

Quote of the movie: "We turned our grief into our most prized possession. God doesn't want that."

CONS

• The movie includes the strong, although sublime suggestion that an angel sculpture protected the girl. This angel figure shows up numerous times in the movie.

• Carlos (played by J. J. Soria, who partakes in many evil movies) moves at the end of the movie into the apartment with his acquaintance, although not being married. This fact alone distances the movie very far from being a Christian movie.

• The only convert of this movie -the criminal- is killed days after his conversion.

• Matthew serves wholeheartedly at church, gives shelter to a homeless mother and her daughter, an act which makes him sick and a few weeks later cough blood, then he dies and resurrects after 8 minutes. Does this give us more motivation to serve THEOS? Rather to the contrary.

• The man who later sheltered the woman and her girl nearly dies when bringing the girl to the dying men who first helped the two. We see that man falling down a very high bridge in his car (with a broken leg and no seatbelt), presume him dead, but soon later he appears as if nothing had happened.

• The couple who helps the pregnant girl gets badly hurt in an accident. The pregnant girl dies. Does this give us more motivation to serve THEOS? Rather to the contrary.

• Problematic quotes: (The homeless mother) "My husband brought us to church every Sunday and look at where we are."

• Derogatory conversation between the lawyer and her husband:

"Hey, hon, hot date, new client, the wife of an accent, a victim ambulance chasing. Not quite your style. It is when the victim is forcibly converted to Christianity while he's trapped, dying forcibly, meanwhile, his wife is restrained out of earshot by the police. Picture, this a Bible thumping EMT, has poor Ron Carson as his captive audience, painting him pictures of hell, fire and damnation in his final moments. Isn't that kind of what they do? Maybe he was a believer too, and she just didn't know it. Both are members of the American Humanist Association. Their motto is good without God. I like it. It still kind of seems like her word against his. That's the best part. These Christian types, you swear them in, they put their hand on the Bible. They actually tell the truth, imagine that."

No matter that both persons involved in that conversation had later their eye-opening moments, such a conversation should not be found in a Christian movie. It is especially problematic given the fact that Bobby is portrayed as a solid Christian, but is suddenly a Humanist (why should the lawyer lie to her husband about this)?

• The Associate Producer is Sean Astin, who is known for 6 different Lord of the Rings movies (!). You cannot so habitually participate in works of darkness, and then produce a Christian movie and even play a role in it.

• The music of Newsboys is featured, which is highly problematic. The band's drummer, Ducan Phillips, once said in an interview: "I think what I love about Newsboys is it's so interdenominational. We see Mennonites to Catholics to Protestants to you name it. Three generations of fans coming to enjoy Newsboys." George Perdikis, co-founder of Newsboys, said he had "renounced Christianity once and for all and declared myself an atheist".

• The filming of the movie involved St. Simon Catholic Church, with Father Wayne B. Wheeler.

• The filming further involved Father Britto, who served at King-St Francis de Sales Catholic Parish and a number of other Catholic churches, and the Mason County Reformed Church (Calvinists).

• Part of the film crew lodged during the filming at a Casino resort, which is unheard of for the filming of a Christian movie.

I have to admit it started a little slow at first, but loved it! It has some great messages and themes throughout and great acting! Bring the Kleenex! I saw this at an early screening sponsored by Pureflix and I thought it was fantastic. I saw the unfinished cut and will go see it again. I can't wait to see the finished product. People from all walks of life should appreciate the truth and honesty portrayed in the film.I don't like when people immediately dismiss a film because of its Christian views and say things like its cheesy. No, it's truth and a lot of people don't like to have the facts right in front of them. I hope God uses this film to touch a lot of people's hearts and get them to begin asking themselves the question, "Do you believe?"

I thought this was a well acted, good paced movie, it held my interest with enough realism and story line, and anyone who is a Christian knows what this movie is trying to convey, and on the whole does a great job of entertaining as well. "I do believe" Jesus is the only way to God via His death on a cross, God proved His worthy sacrifice by raising Him from the dead so I know that when this life ends for me, I will be more alive than I have ever been...... do you believe?

This is a good movie in the sense that it's just more dogmatic rubbish that will help make religion obsolete and make the world a more secular, logical, sensible place for future generations...