At first I was just happy when more people joined my friend Mike and me in the theater. Then I was happy when 4 more of our church friends showed up. I decided that was a good omen. Having not read the book in about 3 years (and having never read Miller's "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" which told the story of how he adapted "Blue" into a screenplay) I didn't remember enough to accurately critique its adaptation (which is a favorite hobby of mine) but in effect, that allowed me to sit back and take them film as it came at me.
As usual a bit of backstory courtesy mainly of Wikipedia. Director Steven Taylor was struggling to fund the film when Miller blogged about it. In response some readers set out to raise funds through Kickstarter. Slightly doubtful at his chances, Taylor agreed to personally call any backer who donated more than $10 once funding exceeded $125,000. $345,992 ended up being raised. One of the original donors took that as a good sign and upped their initial ante. Thus Taylor ended up shooting the film for $750,000 with a post-production budget of $500,000. And yes, thought it took around a year and a half, word is Taylor did call each donor- and the credits for the film list a very long list of "producers."
Even though I just saw it last night, I am having a hard time articulating my views on the film past saying that I liked it. It was an important step in Faith-based films for sure just as last years "Courageous" was as well. It was well acted, thanks to performances by Prison Break's Marshall Allman, LOST's Tania Raymonde and The Vampire Diaries' Claire Holt and a supporting cast who all had to tackle extremely difficult subject matter. I applaud it for putting forward tough questions and not shying away from showing that people of faith can make mistakes and end up growing because of it. I also found the film to be fair in its depiction of un-believers, not simply non-Christians but atheists and agnostics. However the focus of the film is not on these groups, but on Miller's journey from small town Texas Christian to liberal Reed College student. We see Miller at odds with the perceived failures of his faith, anger over the hypocrisy of its adherents and relatable objections voiced by non-believers. Truly knowledge is power and Miller got more than he ever bargained for.
I will be interested in whatever positive points critics will have to say about the film. There will be negative ones to be certain, many of them probably justified, but I think we as a movie going public like the idea of an underdog, independent movie with a risky message that is willing to put itself out there, flaws and all, for the world to see. www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOglQgyxYkI Check out the trailer on YouTube.