Children of God (2011)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Absolutely the worst movie.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Ooooh i so enjoyed this movie. Everything about it was wonderful. Love the actors, black and white. Love the melancholy in everything you see. Love the beautiful scenery of the Bahamas's and really loved the music in the back. This movie has so many dimensions. It is a love story but it is also a statement that shows that homophobia is harmfull for the people we love and that gay people are everywhere. Being gay i could really relate to Johnny because i now how it feels to be left out. So that performance was really convincing. The role of Romeo was also pretty convincing. I've learned that there are gay people acting like they are straight around others but when you are alone with them they hit on you. The only thing i hate in gay movies overall is that the gay character always dies in the end. That is so cliché and it spoiled the fun.... a bit. Because all the other things are sublime i forgive the director for this bit.Overall it is a very good movie and one of my recent favourite gay flicks. I would certainly recommend it to anybody who loves a gay romance movie or people who need to open their minds about the gay topic. Well done!!!!!

The Good; Lead actor is cute. A refection of how homophobia is alive in the Caribbean and fueled by religious hypocrisy. The Bad; The lead actor is obviously not gay and uses that to show a character who has so many odd personal issues. But all of his issues are inconsistent, ironic and for that cause very unrealistic in his bi-polar behavior (one minute he is timid and the next he is outspoken). Film starts with a white boy who is not privileged (and expressively so), from school situation to housing and the next he has a car and money to get around a pay a tour guide. Really!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The conclusion was a cop out that lacked creativity and imagination.I can understand a film being rushed for budget purposes, but time should be taken to rewrite and put a story together as a package before filming and not be a bunch of conflicting scenarios just to make a point. Did anyone bother to read and try to make sense of the whole script before committing to it?

I'd read reviews elsewhere that were mostly high in praise of this movie, so I ordered it. I really liked the Bahamian life shown as it is away from the casinos and cruise ship areas. The acting was good, especially by the two leading guys, Johnny Ferro and Stephen Tyrone Williams. There is a great progression of self-understanding in short order. Photography and filming was very good, including beautiful scenery. Editing was good too, with excellent continuity. The music was a treat. It seemed to also be Bahamian. I'll be looking for more from these actors and director. I definitely recommend this movie and am glad to own a copy.

This is a movie that leaves you in doubt as to the intentions of the maker. There's this positive way you can look at it. It could be a love story against the romantic background of the Bahamas. It could also be the coming-of-age story of a shy and complicated young man that struggles with his sexuality, and then is helped and liberated by a more experienced and relaxed lover. These points of view could make for a decent and beautiful feel-good movie.On the other hand there's a rather negative streak to this movie. There are all these very harsh and heavy issues: the religious and cultural bigotry on the Bahamian islands, the abuse of women, discrimination and gay bashing (to extreme extent). And mind you, these heavy issues are not just dealt with in a low-key background-like way, but very prominently and graphic. And to add to all this ambiguity: not one of all these issues (positive or negative) is solved in the end, so as a result the movie ends frustratingly bland, leaving you (or at least me) depressed and very unsatisfied (and the very last scene doesn't really make up for this, it's idiotic and misplaced!).On the good side I have to say that the acting is overall fine and convincing. Especially the supporting cast is quite good. I also liked one of the two protagonists Stephen Tyrone Williams, he's a natural talent with lots of charisma and an appealing physique (not unimportant in the story). But I had some reservations about Johhny Ferro as the other main character Johnny. It's probably mainly due to the script and the direction, emphasizing his supposed shyness, but he appears not to act at all, he just stands about, looks vexed all of the time (even during his one love-scene) and only speaks with a monotonous almost trembling voice. Add to this his (I'm sorry, Johnny!) rather plain and scruffy looks and his skinny frame. Sure, it gives him a puppy-like cuteness, but it still impressed me as a miracle (and as totally unrealistic) that this athletic cool and relaxed Romeo should even look twice at him, let alone lust after him.Johnny's character is supposed to undergo some sort of positive Werdegang: an evolution from neurotic and sexually insecure recluse to a more self-assured being, but the movie never gives us real proof of this. When Johnny in the end stands up in a crowded preaching-house to confront the woman who raves against homosexuals, it looks like a very brave thing to do. But then the script only makes him say silly platitudes, like "Why don't you leave us alone?" or "Who cares about all this?" or "He who is without sin casts the first stone". Not much to leave a lasting impression and the script just leaves it at that, we don't even get to see how the raving woman or the community react to him. When Johnny speaks to Romeo for the last time, he just lets Romeo go on and on with excusing himself and never confronts him with his inconsistency and hypocrisy. And when in the very end Johnny finally stands up to some of his old bashing tormentors, again he only gets to use feeble and cliché lines, like: "you just compensate for your small dick" (my god, couldn't the writer come-up with something better than that!). Not much of a catharsis there. And then this costs him dearly (I won't give it away), which again makes you wonder what the message of the writer/director is. Feels a bit like: don't bother, you never can win.Another disappointment to me was the use of the surroundings. We're on the Bahama's, for crying out loud, one of the supposed great romantic escapes of the world. The whole movie is shot there on location, but all we get to see of the beauty of it is one scene at he beach where Romeo and Johnny snorkel together. For the rest we see endless dusty roads, little dilapidated houses, ugly beach-sides and some local bars. What a waste!! All in all an unbalanced movie with an ambiguous message (if any) and a depressing lasting impression. Oh, and rather bad PR to the Bahamas, I would say. I'm gay and love to travel to sunny shores, but this movie made me see that for gay people the Bahamas are the last place to go to for a holiday.