I Still Believe (2020) Lionsgate/Drama RT: 115 minutes Rated PG (thematic material) Director: The Erwin Brothers (Jon and Andrew) Screenplay: Jon Erwin, Jon Gunn and Madeline Carroll Music: John Debney Cinematography: Kristopher Kimlin Release date: March 13, 2020 (US) Cast: KJ Apa, Britt Robertson, Gary Sinise, Shania Twain, Melissa Roxburgh, Nathan Parsons, Nicholas Bechtel, Reuben Dodd, Cameron Arnett, Tanya Christiansen, Abigail Cowen. Box Office: $10.4M (US)/$16.4M (World)
Rating: ***
If I was asked to write a blurb for I Still Believe, I’d say it’s Love Story for the after-church crowd. It’s as apt a description as any for this incredibly corny Christian melodrama from the guys that brought you I Can Only Imagine, the Erwin Brothers. For their second musical biopic, they’ve chosen to tell the real-life Love Story of singer Jeremy Camp and his first wife Melissa. She died of cancer just four months after they were married. Uh oh, did I just drop a major spoiler? Considering that Camp’s story is well-known to Christian music fans, I’m going with NO.
KJ Apa from TV’s Riverdale plays Camp who we first meet as he’s leaving his Indiana home for Calvary Chapel Bible College. After calming his special-needs brother (Dodd) over his leaving, his parents drop him off at the bus station where they present him with a new guitar. He sneaks backstage at an orientation week concert where he asks Kry lead singer Jean-Luc (Parsons, The Originals) how to make it in the music business. Jean-Luc tells Jeremy he should be asking a different question before enlisting his help as a roadie for the night. This entails bringing guitars to Jean-Luc on stage between songs. This is when Jeremy spots Melissa (Robertson, A Dog’s Purpose) in the crowd. Instantly smiiten, he awkwardly strikes up a conversation with her after the show. It isn’t too long until they start hanging out.
Naturally, there are complications, the main one being that Jean-Luc is also interested in Melissa. When she and Jeremy begin dating, she asks him to keep it secret because she doesn’t want to hurt Jean-Luc who she only likes as a friend. The road to true love, as well all know, is never easy. Jeremy and Melissa hit a few bumps and roadblocks along the way. And then Melissa gets sick. Knowing that it’s true love and she doesn’t have much time, they decide to get married.
You may think I’ve told you all about I Still Believe, but I haven’t. We all know that any faith-based movie worth its weight in gold, frankincense and myrrh must have at least one character undergo a crisis of faith. Jeremy has one of those after he loses his wife. He begins to question whether God really listens to prayers. He and many, MANY others prayed for her recovery and she still died. What’s he supposed to do with that? For that answer, I refer you to the film’s title, taken from one of Camp’s top hit songs.
I have a soft spot for corny tearjerkers, you all know that. That’s what I Still Believe is, through and through, right to the core. It also contains a message about faith and how you must hold onto it even in the darkest times. While the Erwins keep reminding you of the film’s agenda, it never reaches the point of sanctimony. It preaches without being too preachy. That doesn’t mean I Still Believe doesn’t have other problems. It does.
The main problem is the screenplay. It’s not well-written. For one thing, it lacks development, in both plot and character. It isn’t until more than midway through the movie that we learn that Jeremy’s father (Sinise, Forrest Gump) is a minister. It’s possible that I missed it earlier, but for me to miss such an important piece of information, it must have been an offhand reference or something. Speaking of Jeremy’s family, we don’t see a lot of his disabled brother after that first scene. Given their interaction, I thought he was going to be more of a major character. Along those same lines, Melissa talks to Jeremy about her older sister in a way that implies she’ll figure heavily into their story. Again, it doesn’t happen. She has one conversation with Jeremy and it gets interrupted. Then there’s the conflict between Jeremy and Jean-Luc after it’s revealed that Melissa is dating Jeremy. It’s not really much of a conflict and it’s settled in too facile a manner. Maybe it went down like this in real life, but it sure doesn’t make for compelling drama.
On the plus side, there is great chemistry between Apa and Robertson. Given that we’re talking about a PG-rated religious picture, things don’t get hot and heavy. There is real affection between them though. Individually, the actors do a fine job. Apa convincingly plays the husband toggling between worry and anguish. He also does all his own singing. He has a good voice. Robertson is better in the Ali McGraw role, a spirited young woman not easy to catch. Her devotion to God is palpable. When sharing her passion for the cosmos with Jeremy, she says, “God is so infinitely vast AND He knows my name.” She makes it sound sincere. The rest of the cast, which includes country music star Shania Twain as Jeremy’s mother, does the best they can with underwritten roles.
I’ll admit to being moved a few times by I Still Believe. What can I say? I’m not made of stone. The idea of losing a loved one gets to me. Also, I enjoy good melodrama. On that level, I Still Believe works. I just wish the script was tighter. The movie runs a little longer than it needs to. Still, it’s pretty good. I can see it attracting preteen and teen girls, especially the ones who watch Apa on Riverdale religiously.
