All Saints (2017)

So much average

Don't listen to the negative reviews

best movie i've ever seen.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

This is the true story of Michael Spurlock, a salesman turned Pastor of a small Smyrna Tennessee Episcopal church. It traces what happens after he's been told by the diocese he must close his church due to low attendances. The events that transpire over the difficult months that follow are as unlikely as they are remarkable. Nothing runs smoothly for Michael, his struggling family or his small band of supporters. The hardships they encounter are at times soul destroying but, hardships can also push people to work against impossible odds - in an attempt to turn them into goals that build community bonds. The outcome of this curious story is one that needs to be seen and won't be readily forgotten. What can be achieved by people of different cultures - when their ongoing communal existence is threatened - is powerful indeed. An unusual story of survival against the odds, told with intelligence, quality production values, good performances and a better than average music score.

All of the acting is good and I love John Corbett. Prior to watching this movie I knew nothing about the suffering of the Burmese Karen people and was educated about them by this movie. Unfortunately the ending of this movie is so depressing that I believe that this movie should not have been made about this situation.

While Hollywood is loathe to admit it, while the studios often make money, a very large percentage of the public simply never goes to movies. Some of this, no doubt, is because movies often are filled with violence and other offensive content and many choose not to see it and spend their dollars on such films. Fortunately, in recent years various small studios have sprung up to fill this gap...and "All Saints" is among the best of these films I have seen.This is the inspirational story of All Saints Episcopal Church, which is in rural Tennessee. The church was about to be sold as the membership had dwindled down to almost nothing. Reverend Spurlock (John Corbett) is brought in to close up shop, so to speak, but ended up leading an effort to try to save the church property because it had just become such an important part of a group of Burmese refugees' lives...and with their help he worked himself practically to death to save something many felt wasn't worth saving.While technically speaking, there are films that look a bit better and feature CGI and huge stars, this one manages to entertain anyway and it sure didn't hurt that the picture had Corbett and a few other familiar faces. Overall, very well made and uplifting...the sort of film you could take anyone to see (unless, perhaps, they are Satan worshipers...I would take them to see "It" instead).

All Saints (2017) is a terrific movie about hope and faith, but it's more about how God shows up in ways we don't expect. Even when one believes that he has received a clear calling and is obedient to it, one has to leave the results to Him.Based on a true story about a church that's about to be closed in Smyrna, Tennessee, the film begins with Michael Spurlock (John Corbett) getting sworn in and receiving his instructions from the Bishop (Gregory Alan Williams). Michael is to oversee the closing of the All Saints Church over 2 months time because its dwindling membership can't afford the mortgage payment to the diocese. Cara Buono plays Michael's wife Aimee; Myles Moore is their son Atticus.It's a sad event for the few remaining members, especially a widower named Forrest (Barry Corbin), a retired farmer-Vietnam veteran that's a bit of a curmudgeon. He 'convicts' Michael of his duties as a pastor. So Michael posts some flyers to grow the congregation and, the following Sunday, is pleased to see a handful of Karen refugees from war torn Burma (Myanmar) attend. However, only Ye Win (Nelson Lee) speaks English, so Michael enlists Win - who has already assumed many of his fellow countrymen's responsibilities - as a translator.The Karen - mostly farmers by trade - are poor and in need of jobs and food. Win asks if they can start a garden on church property to help feed their families. Michael pleads with local businessmen to help and finds only Boyd (David Keith), who's willing to supply some jobs at a chicken plant. When Michael is offended by the crassness of some prospective buyers of the church, he runs them off. Meanwhile, he institutes a second service for the Karen, which has become a growing population in the area.It's at this point that Michael receives what he believes is a call from God, to turn the church's acreage into a farm, to provide food for the Karen while selling the rest to pay the mortgage. He successfully sells the idea to the Bishop - to delay the closing of the church - for a season.While Aimee - with help from Atticus - educates and teaches the Karen children to sing English-language songs etc., Michael becomes a farm foreman. The Karen work the fields in the early morning before Win has to drive the men to the chicken plant for a 12 hour day, which causes his marriage to fall apart.Also, there's a lack of rain which causes the fields to be watered by hand, a difficult and time consuming process for Michael. But because of Win's budding friendship with Forrest, the old farmer joins in, and proves invaluable to Michael, especially when negotiating the price for a tractor. In order to pay for the tractor, Michael has to take out a loan that would force him to leave the clergy and go back to his prior sales job if the farm fails.Despite these difficulties, it appears that everything will work out okay until a rainstorm washes away most of the crops before they're harvested despite a tremendous effort by the entire community. Another unforeseen event destroys their only remaining hope, the sour leaf that was to be sold to Asian restaurants in nearby Nashville.However, from Proverbs 19:21 "Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." I won't spoil what God does, but it's consistent with His character (and involves the Bishop).