Blue Like Jazz (2012)

Best movie of this year hands down!

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

I briefly wanted to give my two cents on this film, which I watched without any realization that it was a "Christian" film or having read the book. From the standpoint of an unbiased movie watcher, I found the framing device of the film to be just visually awful. The astronaut in space with the characters' faces photoshopped in, with typed words appearing in space... plainly put, it was bad. As was the hideous carrot and rabbit "traveling to the West Coast" scene. Such poorly placed/developed animated moments essentially ruined the presentation of the film's literary aspects with their artificial and hard-to- look-at appearances. My second thought is the lack of transitions in this film/strange delineation of time in correspondence with the equally strange depiction of college students ended up rubbing me the wrong way. The highly unrealistic and varying sense of time in this film just sent the viewer in all different directions. Along with the purely bizarre and two-dimensional portrayal of students, none of the illustrations of the college and its student body made any sense to me at all (I have never, ever come across an American campus like that, not even on the West Coast). One more thing about character development that bugs is me is that the protagonist is a person trying to cover up his past - but this motif is undeveloped, as the main character never really displays his "shame" of his past, and the film in fact skips over the ambivalence and confusion of his actual attempting to hide his former self. Actually, he seems like he fits in pretty damn well. (It's like the situation in Mean Girls, when Cady tries so hard to forget who she was that she actually does become one of the Plastics). Also, where's the conflict in this film? Obviously, it's not about the girl because she's always forgives him, and it's not about his Christianity because he seems to have quite forgotten about it over his year at college, and it's not about his mom's affair because she really only shows up twice or thrice in the entire movie. One other thing that annoyed me was how much the ending came out of nowhere - Don's emotional confession to Justin and his heedless cry for forgiveness for covering up his past, and his declaration that throughout the pot brownies, alcohol kegs and various activities that southern Baptists would frown upon, he never forgot about God. Interesting return to the "main idea" of the film. There are a lot of issues with this film, from the poor acting to the strange jumping around of themes and messages. Four stars for some well-shot scenes (the big party) and some comedic moments (the Christian/non-Christian debate).

Frankly, when the "Previews" began prior to this movie running on DVD they seem to set the tone that what was to follow was going to be one of those "Christian" movies, the kind that are selling a particular religious point of view. My finger was on the "Off" button from the beginning and just about 80% through....but little by little I found myself relaxing about that "issue" and at the end was sold on this: this is a fine movie, well written, acted and directed and if the only message anyone takes away from this is one about compassion and empathy for fellow human beings, then that's all that has to be said. I guess at 78 I'm older than most of the people who come to this page, I don't even know what "IMDb" stands for....and it doesn't matter to me, but my age means that I go back quite a ways when considering the numbers of movies watched. With that in mind I'll use my time-in-grade to claim high ground for this one, it is one of the best....ever. I'd watch it again, and I do that very, very rarely.

Blue Like Jazz follows the same formula used by John Moyer in his movies about Mormonism. The questioning believer is critical of his faith but eventually finds meaning in joining a church, usually through his interest in a desirable female believer. See John Moyer's the Returned Missionary. It's basically the same story. In this case, non-believers are depicted by the residents of a secular college as being raucous, injured and without direction. Christians are shown as tolerant, generous and kind. Non-believer's lives are mired in self-absorption, while the Christian character is generously giving her time to traveling to a troubled third world community. What she actually accomplishes there is not revealed. The viewer is left to wonder whether she is giving any substantial relief or is there to proselytize. While the supposed virtues of a Christian life is alluded to, the film never tackles the difficult challenges about historical accuracy and factual evidence put forth by its critics. It simply asserts that non-believers and Christian critics live empty non-fulfilling lives, and Christian's lives are wholesome, peaceful and fulfilling. This is illustrated when the main character comes to his senses, recommits to his religion, and most importantly, gets the girl. The female prize is no ordinary female, but a high quality, highly desirable, attractive, intelligent, caring, wise, and endlessly forgiving white Anglo-Saxon female. This is exactly the prize bait used by Moyer in his movies about the Mormon religion; that is until John Moyer renounced his membership and gave up the religion.

This is honestly one of my favorite movies. It is controversial however for its blunt honesty, and how realistic it is to our world, which is why I love it. It does include some adult themes such as sexual innuendos, and cursing, but it only adds to the overall effect.It is one of those movies that make you think, and challenge yourself. It calls you out on a lot of things that we as Christians do, which it why it is so controversial. You have to watch this movie several times to truly grasp its genius.Please show some support for this movie, there are many people who would benefit from seeing this movie.