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April 13, 2012
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Review: Blue Like Jazz
— Posted by
Kenny Miles
Synopsis: “I never liked jazz music because jazz music doesn’t resolve. . . . I used to not like God because God didn’t resolve. But that was before any of this happened.”
During his first semester, Don finds himself trapped in a crisis of faith. Does the core of his Christian beliefs, which he has become disillusioned due to his upbringing, have any relevance on his forward thinking campus? (“If you are going to have an existential crisis, Portland in the winter is hard to beat.”) It becomes clear that making the transition is necessary for his self-discovery and questioning, if not rejecting Christianity, is healthy alternative. A boundary-pushing prank involves him placing a condom on a church steeple and hanging a “Don’t let these people reproduce” banner. It is shocking to see this in a ‘Christian film,’ but it works as a form of engaging narrative and brutal realism. The strength of Blue Like Jazz requires us to journey with Don’s struggle instead of pretending everything will be okay. He is fed up with ‘the church’ even perplexed with finding relevance in his old identity. What will remain as he forms his new one? 99% of Christian films wouldn’t go into a skeptical territory. However a film like “Blue Like Jazz” belongs here even demanding we ask those harsh questions. As the church lives in a world, which asks those questions, this is very reassuring.
A unique film such as ‘Blue Like Jazz’ found itself in an unorthodox situation. It might be referred to in the Entertainment Industry as the “Kickstart Miracle.” Fans of the book rallied to its support to save the production from shutting down. A campaign on the popular website Kickstarter, raised a record-setting $345,000 to fund the film doubling the original goal. Each individual who financially supported the project are featured in the film’s closing credits. The film premiered in the Narrative Spotlight Selection at the 2012 South by Southwest Film Festival. As a way to offer thanks to loyal followers, director Steve Taylor and author Don Miller went on a nationwide bus tour to host event screenings and discussions geared towards fans of the book and early supporters of the film.A movie such as “Blue Like Jazz” not only preaches to a segment of the choir, it extends to an audience beyond Christians. This is healthy alternative for the genre to explore and ‘Jazz’ succeeds venturing into the unexplored. After The Left Behind series and Fireproof, Christians have a film, which thinks outside of the church asking questions while seeking meaningful answers. Also, it’s not embarrassing to watch as a small budget ($1 million) goes a long way. In a refreshing sense, the audience isn’t preached a set of rules in how to live your life. A film like ‘Jazz’ has a lot of mainstream appeal to individuals who don’t have the desire to watch faith-based films. That’s the unexpected beauty of a quirky, poignant film like this one.
This post was written by :
![]() who has written 297 posts on The Movie Blog Whether something is overlooked by Hollywood or whatever business trend has captured the Entertainment Industry’s attention, Kenny Miles loves to talk about movies (especially the cultural impact of a film). He covers various aspects of movies including specialty genre films, limited release, independent, foreign language, documentary features, and THE much infamous "awards season." Also, he likes to offer his opinion on the business of film, marketing strategy, and branding. He currently resides in Denver, Colorado and is a member of the Denver Film Critics Society critics group. When he isn’t writing, Kenny channels his passion for interacting with moviegoers (something most movie pundits lack) as a pollster for the market research company CinemaScore and working as floor staff/special events coordinator in the film community. You can follow him on Twitter @kmiles723. visit author's website | Contact the Author
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