Between The Walls (2006)

I love this movie so much

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

There's bad acting and then there's bad acting and in my opinion this movie had neither. Of course the performances weren't exactly 'Oscar worthy' but then again this film doesn't exactly have a million dollar budget – or at least I highly doubt that it does. The performances were adequate; for the most part they were believable, in some scenes the actors did try too hard (especially when acting with props – like holding their hands over a doorknob for dramatic effect) but those were few and far between. I don't know if I've gotten used to the acting in low budget films (and no one really gets accustomed to bad acting) but I've seen acting that has made me cringe but for the 70 minutes of this movie I actually believed that Patrick Midgley (who plays Peter King Jr) was on an emotional roller coaster and I felt as if I was on the wacky ride with him. The story, as I conceived it, is about a man who's finding it hard to forgive his deceased father for the psychological abuse that he put him through during his childhood. Ultimately he is led, by an old childhood friend, to Jesus and surrenders it all so that he can forgive his father and finally have peace. The message is solid and while some may find it too repetitive we must remember that this is a Christian film, the sole point isn't to provide entertainment but to relate the message of the Gospel in an entertaining way. All in all, it was a decent film. There's character development, a little plot twist near the end, and the editing at the beginning made my skin tingle – in a good way (but that's only if you're into that kind of stuff).

I thought this was a good movie, though I have to agree with the reviewers that there was bad acting in it. This movie teaches about not to judge others.The Protagonist's father audio records his childhood actions and the tapes were not discovered until the house goes under an eviction notice by the bank.The Protagonist's friend who works for the bank became a born-again Christian after he stole money years ago from the Protagonist's father's bank account. Thus as punishment, the protagonist was forbidden never to speak and come in contact with his friend again.The Protagonist learns that his father's in Hades for judging and his friend tried to help him pay the mortgage in doing the Lord's business.In the end, the protagonist gave his life to the Savior and destroyed the tapes.The lesson from this movie is, don't judge others.

I recently bought this movie at a rental shop that was going out of business; I read the description on the back and it sounded like an interesting and original concept. It described a movie which detailed the story of a man who learns while preparing for his house to be repossessed that his dad recorded every sound that was ever made in their house and now has access to the tapes. It did NOT describe a one hour and twelve minute sermon about how we all must "surrender ourselves to God" and forgive those who have wronged us. You can guess which one I found inside the case. I am a believer in Christianity myself, I read the Bible and go to church regularly, but this is too much even for me. The pathetic screenplay, consisting nearly entirely of hackneyed and overused lines, comes across as melodramatic and corny. Admittedly, the screenplay itself is not entirely at fault for this, it is also, at least partially, the result of some of the most atrocious acting I've ever seen. For every believable line uttered there are at least ten that are completely unconvincing and incredibly awkward. The makers of this movie tried way to hard to push God into the script at every possible point, resulting in the flow of the film seeming broken and being interrupted each time you thought you were just getting into it; after each interesting revelation or memory that could be built upon we instead hear another "bible hour" sermon from the banker/childhood friend who is managing the repossession. Though the concept has potential, this is not the movie which the case would have you think it is. This is the story of a man "surrendering to Jesus", and it does an awful job of telling even that story.

The only reason I rented this film was because it was not listed as a Christian film. Who could know the Family Friendly rating and the WYSIWYG Film Festival were Christian! So not knowing the above and only briefly skimming the notes, I tried to get into this film despite the terrible acting, hoping the intriguing backstory might be prove to be worthwhile.The main character's dad was a dictatorial Christian control freak who recorded everything in the house. He was both an omniscient and vengeful figure whose mode of interacting with his son is through punishment. The similarities to the god of the old testament are unmistakable. These tapes are not discovered until the house is to be repossessed.While there were some interesting juxtapositions where the main character as an adult relives his painful past through his father's tapes, the movie's heavy-handed fundemenalist message was overbearing. According to the filmmakers humanity by nature is inherently depraved and we are not worthy of anything unless we surrender to God. This is not a Christian message.The only way I can justify having wasted 72 minutes of my life is to warn others.