The film is about religion and not about it. I grew up in a mixed Jewish-Slav family, so as someone who has nothing to do with the actual Jesus Movement or Western Christianity per se, I will try to touch the religious aspect of this film in a neutral way. Fortunately, the picture before us is not so much about a certain religious movement as about the time and the aspirations of Americans in which it appeared. No wonder in one of the American reviews said that most of all this film catches not the current youth, but those who found those times and events at a young age.
If we consider this work as a Christian film, an important part of which is the advertising of Christianity, then I would no doubt say that a rare film would so successfully sell me the idea of the Christian religion as The Revolution of Jesus. In this film we see the concept of a large family, where you will be welcome regardless of differences, rather than any clear religious community.
I would even say that in it we hear more about the importance of family and finding a place for oneself in life than references to some religious doctrines. Of course, there is still quite a lot of talk about God and scenes in the church, but they feel superficial and pale in the background of more mundane, or more “human” where the characters discuss issues of society, relationships or family.
This becomes especially noticeable in the second half of the film, where the characters are mostly occupied with personal issues, rather than religion, which is increasingly simplified into some clichés. The film was quite successful at the box office (as for a Christian film) and it will not be difficult to assume that this was achieved in our non-religious times precisely due to the absence of typical heavy-handed propaganda and aggressive dogmatism.
On the other hand, because of such an accent arrangement, the ideological content of the film suffers very much. It may have been aimed at people who are already committed Christians and can quote the Bible from memory, I don't know, but everything you'll learn about Christianity and Jesus in this film is no more informative than all that hipparian 'Jesus is cool.' It does, in a sense, bring us back to the early Christian communities and give the essence of the Jesus Movement to people who are far from religion like me, but it hardly gives you any religious revelation other than that Christians are "their own dudes."
Having closed the topic of religion and looked at the film as a pure biopic about hippans, I would say that this is kind of a religious version of last year’s Liquor Pizza. Before us is exactly the same story about young people who discover the adult world and by the will of fate are in the whirlpool of events, the significance of which they will be able to appreciate only decades later.
To the extent that both films feature an important homosexual character (which the Revolution has been very successful in hiding from us for obvious reasons, but you can always learn from an English Wikipedia article) and a condemnation of selfishness by demonstrating how it negatively affects human relationships. If you liked Pizza and don’t mind watching a biopic about the same times, only on religious topics, you’re unlikely to be disappointed.
The only thing that caused me a clear objection is to a certain level the amorphity of the main character. The film portrays him so candidly as a follower that you’d be surprised to learn that his script is based on Lori’s autobiography. I haven't read it, and I can't appreciate the quality of the adaptation, but if Greg intentionally portrayed it exactly as it was in his life, then Laurie's sincerity is truly evangelical.
In the end, it’s like two movies in one. The Jesus Revolution is an unquestionably religious film that tells the story of a particular religious movement and the people involved in it during a particular era of religious awakening in American history. At the same time, we have a rather sentimental film about the importance of family, support and finding a place in the life of each person, which also emphasizes the importance of unlimited brotherhood between people. Which can certainly be quite relevant in our hectic times.
Given the above, I would have no problem recommending it to non-religious but non-religious people, or secular believers who love religious topics, but avoid some wild religious propaganda with calls to pray, fast and listen to Radio Radonezh. Of course, erasing the homosexuality of one of the significant characters for obvious reasons can “slightly” spoil the overall impression of the picture, but at least it is simply not mentioned, and does not become the object of any negative or positive hints. Perhaps the authors simply tried to avoid the obviously sensitive topic, given that we are talking about a famous and real person.
7 out of 10
For their positivity, ease and avoidance of the most common problems of Christian cinema as a genre.