Photo by Jenkins Entertainment
Kevin Sorbo in "What If...", a faith-based movie that asks the question, “What if you followed God’s plan for your life instead of your own?”
The latest faith-based film to reach Memphis theaters, “What If ...” is a mash-up of “It’s a Wonderful Life” and the New Testament account of Saul’s encounter with the heavenly light of Jesus on the road to Damascus, except in this case replace Saul with Kevin “Hercules” Sorbo and the heavenly light of Jesus with John Ratzenberger of “Cheers.”
What If tells the story of Ben Walker, who fifteen years ago left his college sweetheart Wendy, and his calling to be a preacher, in ...
Rating: PG
Length: 100 minutes
Released: August 20, 2010 Limited
Cast: Kevin Sorbo, Kristy Swanson, John Ratzenberger, Debby Ryan, Kristin Minter
Director: Dallas Jenkins
Writer: Chuck Konzelman, Andrea Gyertson Nasfell
Although Sorbo is best known for his role as the title Greek demigod on the 1990s syndicated TV hit “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” and his co-star here, Kristy Swanson, is remembered as the original “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “What If...” might hold more interest for devout churchgoers than for the Comic-Con faithful, who will be disappointed to learn the movie bears no relationship to the Marvel Comics series of the same name, which asked such questions as “What if Spider-Man joined the Fantastic Four?” and “What if Captain America became President?” Instead, the pertinent puzzler here is: “What if you followed God’s plan for your life instead of your own?”
The answer presented by director Dallas Jenkins and a team of three screenwriters is that you — or rather the film’s protagonist, Ben Walker (Sorbo) — would be a happily married, meatloaf-eating small-town pastor with a wife (Swanson), two kids and a minivan instead of a rich and powerful champagne-swilling financial wizard with a glamorous fianceé (Kristin Minter)and a new Mercedes. And, yes, the former situation is presented as preferable to the latter. Obviously, this lesson of reassurance is aimed at men with mortgages and women with flannel nightgowns, not Mick Jagger or Lady Gaga.
In any case, the aforementioned Mercedes inexplicably breaks down on a country highway with such rickety orneriness that the ultra-wealthy Ben is smacked in the face with an airbag. When he awakens, he’s being counseled by a Clarence-like angel (Ratzenberger) in the guise of a tow-truck operator, who informs Ben that he’s now living in a parallel version of his life in which he pursued the will of the Almighty rather than the almighty dollar. The catch is that, inside, he’s still the Gordon Gecko version of Ben, so he doesn’t even know his kids’ names; and when he preaches from the pulpit, he advises: “Try to make more money.” As in a sitcom, this existential confusion is presented as light comedy, with a message; in other words, the connection to Frank Capra’s despair-laced masterpiece with Jimmy Stewart is purely superficial.
Shot in Michigan, “What If ...” is the third feature film from Jenkins Entertainment, a company founded by Dallas Jenkins and his father, Jerry F. Jenkins, co-author of the apocalyptic/evangelical “Left Behind” novels. The film is not only tame but also simple-minded in its suggestion that “God’s plan” is some sort of either/or proposition that devalues free will — My way or the highway, to Damascus and then to hell.
“What If...” is playing at the Wolfchase Galleria Cinema 8 and the Collierville Towne 16.
— John Beifuss, 529-2394
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