Dial a Prayer (2015)

Good movie but grossly overrated

Did you people see the same film I saw?

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

I liked this little film. A good and decent little film. The story, the script, the directing , the acting and the cinematography. A well packaged little project. I liked the idea that just when you thought that William Macey's character was evil, you end up realizing that he is not. Also, I liked the idea that believing and disbelieving in anything could change in any minute when your perception changes .

This is a movie with an obviously cynical view of prayer from the outset. The church show. In occasional take-backs appears to be Catholic, but the towns people who went to it do not. All of the "Christian" characters are played as if they were paste board mock-up of real people. All of the "Christian" characters show their ignorance at everything from relationships to Biblical facts, and lack genuineness in their prayer life and home life.The only person presented with genuineness is the the faithless and miserable Cora, in search of truth and riddled with guilt. But her language, sexual behaviour, drinking and drug taking reinforces that this film is aimed at a general audience in a cynical time, to the exclusion of a Christian audience. It presents a clichéd atheistic view of poor, misguided believers.The pace of the movie is very slow. Half way through my wife said that if it was any slower we should just turn it off. The only reason we watched it through was because we paid for the viewing. Generally an unsatisfying waste of money.

This movie came very close to being an excellent offering. It has effective character development, good use of setting/scenes, a few well-thought out plot twists, and mostly effective dialogue. It was obviously not a glitzy production done on a huge budget, but that just adds to the charm of the film. So why not a higher rating? Too Cora-centric.Of course, she is the main character, so it's no surprise that she's in the middle of just about everything that happens in the movie. But that's not the problem. Everything is portrayed from Cora's viewpoint. The other workers at the Dial-A-Prayer center where she must perform community service after vandalizing a church are not really shown as people, but as the caricatures Cora sees. The only one that seems to approach actual personhood is the woman in the next cubical who soon begins to commiserate with Cora's discomfort over the center's purpose and structure, let's her go for a secret smoke, and uses profanity.Cora's father is shown as distant and her mother initially as repulsive(because she is living in denial about the marriage while tossing out platitudes whenever necessary to make it seem like everything is just fine) then as a pitiable woman. Even Chase (who tracks Cora down after speaking with her on the Dial-A-Prayer service) is portrayed at first as a creepy stalker-type, next as an insensitive creep, and finally as the guy that she's gonna be alright with because she believes in herself and him and somehow, someway, they're going to make it work! Sadly, many people will find this message inspiring without recognizing it's insidious nature. Truth is, we CAN NEVER learn enough, know enough, become skilled enough, or whatever to make our lives anything but a shambles. It's only when we get the focus off ourselves and onto the One who IS wise enough, powerful enough and compassionate enough that there exists any hope for any of us. So while Cora became a bit less self-absorbed toward the end of the movie, the hope that it tries to imply of a better tomorrow due to the burgeoning relationship with Chase is a cruel mirage. It's just another result of living a me-centric life

Firstly, this is not just for religious people, as a atheist, I really enjoyed this film. Brittany Snow displays such emotional depth and a great character. She told the story so beautifully, I, a usually emotional robot, was brought to tears. The score, also, so wonderfully aides the telling of this emotional roller-coaster.Deeply relatable, anyone may see a part of themselves in one of the characters. Even if just slightly, with themes of guilt, love, depression and that human need to feel good. A superb film that is heart warming and wrenching at the same time.I think that there is room for a sequel, further analysing Cora's family breakdown and the effect of his mother's injuries on Chase. Everyone involved with the project should be applauded. Slight criticism is that it is short, this may be budget but it is still a great film.