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The day after a recent televised Republican debate, some people asked me what I thought of the candidates. Well, the truth is, although I had intended to watch the debate, Patty and I got sidetracked. Just before the debate, we started to watch a DVD of a little-known film produced by a fellow Christian named Rick Eldridge.
Once we started watching, we could not stop. That’s because the movie we watched was beautiful, wholesome, and full of timeless truths. In fact, I would argue that it was even more relevant to some of our current crises than any political debate.
The film was The Ultimate Gift. You may recall that I talked about this movie back in March when it first came out. To recap briefly: The Ultimate Gift tells the story of a wealthy man, Red Stevens, who was so busy providing for his family’s physical needs that he failed to teach them real values. Faced with grown children who cared for nothing but money and power, Red makes one last effort to help a family member find redemption.
To the rest of his family, Red leaves money and businesses; but to his grandson, Jason, he leaves a set of instructions on DVD that he recorded before his death.
On the first recording, Red explains to Jason what money without values does to people. “How can I leave you something and not ruin you?” he asks. So to earn his inheritance, Jason has to perform a series of tasks—or “gifts,” as his grandfather calls them—that will teach him the value of hard work, friendship, dreams, and other things that the younger man’s life has been too long without.
I can recall very few films that have dealt as wisely and as beautifully with so many important themes, like the corruption that wealth can cause, or the redemption that’s possible for even the most self-centered human being.
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It bothers me that more people did not get to see this film in theaters. You would think a film that starred two Oscar nominees and told a compelling story would have done better. But unfortunately, the fact is that it was distributed by Fox Faith, and the Christian label may have hurt it.
As Terry Mattingly of Get Religion says, “Mainstream critics were determined to find the moral messages and make sure potential moviegoers were warned in advance. . . . Crucial scenes were, as a result, seen through this [Christian] lens.” That lens angered many critics and led many of them to make snap judgments about the movie instead of giving it a fair chance.
The truth is that producer Rick Eldridge nevertheless “thought that he was producing a mainstream movie, with mainstream talent, that was going to have a chance to reach a thoroughly mainstream audience.” That’s exactly what Christian artists ought to be doing, and it is sad that the mainstream media does not want to give them a chance.
The good news is that we still have a chance to do justice to this great film. It may not have played in a theater near you, but now it is out on DVD and widely available. I urge you in the strongest terms to rent or buy a copy and watch it with your family, or give a copy to your grandkids as Patty and I are doing. The knee-jerk reactions against it just go to show that this is exactly the kind of honest, thought-provoking, timely film we need now more than ever.
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From BreakPoint®, September 17, 2007, Copyright 2007, Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with the permission of Prison Fellowship Ministries. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced or distributed without the express written permission of Prison Fellowship Ministries. “BreakPoint®” and “Prison Fellowship Ministries®” are registered trademarks of Prison Fellowship
