Christian movie review: "WWJD II: The Woodcarver"

I watched  WWJD 2: The Woodcarver last weekend. It is not a sequel to a previous movie with John Schneider called WWJD.

It stars John Ratzenberger of Cheers, Toy Story, who is a grieving widower. Meanwhile a family has disintegrated, the parents fight all the time, they are separated and thinking of divorce. Their 15 year old son has lashed out by quitting school and vandalizing the local Baptist church.

The story is about the intersection of these two sets of characters.

The themes are:

--power of prayer
--putting Jesus first
--the man resuming headship of his family under the guidance of Jesus via worship at church, prayer, and bible precepts
--living a sacrificial life of love for your neighbor, and your family

While I'm not a huge fan of the whole WWJD thing, being more of a "What did Jesus SAY" kind of gal, I thought the movie was fairly well done. I didn't hear any gross doctrinal errors.

--Although the cross was posted in homes that were shown, once it was a crucifix, but it was not prominently displayed.
--The pastor was shown as caring, and in the counseling session he urged the family to rethink divorce and maintained that through Jesus any family can be reconciled.
--The widower was visiting the cemetery with the teenager and said that he talks to his wife there, and when the boy asked if she talks back, he said no, 'she is in a better place now' and 'I only hear her in my memories'. So that was good.
--I liked how the widower's grief and gradual retreat from the world was not soft-soaped. It was shown that continuation in sacrificial service to the Lord despite personal grief or other circumstances was what the Lord told us to do.

Overall I thought it was a corny, fairly well done Christian movie. Of course, the movie could have done so much more. But overall, what was in the movie seemed fairly good, even if it lacked some stuff that was out of it.

I am always taken by the power of watching a multiplying faith founded on shared love and personal sacrifice. These kind of movies are far better because they demonstrate what Jesus would have us do in making disciples and working out our faith in fear and trembling. Movies that show a faith like this don't rely on flashy miracles like in "Faith Like Potatoes" but instead show the strong, undying, persevering commitment to living a Christ-like life in mundane circumstances in your home, your work, your school - which is the real miracle. "The Secrets of Johnathan Sperry" also did this well.

Here is the movie trailer. Hope you enjoy.