When we got home, my daughter picked up this DVD and said, "Mom, did you get this movie, Captive?"
"Yes," I said. "Flyby Promotions sent me that to review. We need to watch it."
"Do you know what it's about?" she asked excitedly. "It's about the story the minister was talking about this morning!" Sometimes the timing is amazing!
From what I can tell, the movie has stayed fairly true to the real story. There is a disclaimer at the beginning that it deals with adult content, so be aware of that before watching this with young children. Brian Nichols' original trial was for rape, then he killed 4 people, and then he terrorized Ashley in her apartment for seven hours. There are no graphic scenes in the movie, but the content is for a mature audience. That said, we watched it with all four of our children, ranging from ages 10 to 16. They all enjoyed it and were moved by it. It opened a window for us to talk about things like drug abuse and consequences for one's actions.
This is one of my favorite movies I have seen in a while (sorry, I saw the new Star Wars right before Christmas, so I can't really say it's THE favorite!), and I think the reason is its authenticity. I love a lot of the new Christian movies coming out from places like PureFlix Entertainment (you can see reviews elsewhere on my blog), and I think they are wholesome for my kids to watch. Even so, sometimes the answers in the "Christian" stories come too easily. Person A has Problem A. Person B, while admitting they are not perfect and do not have it all together, really does have things pretty "together" in comparison, and is able to offer the help needed. Person B says the exact right words, Person A has some life-changing event, Person A immediately turns life around and possibly accepts Christ that very night, and they all live happily ever after. That's not even the way it always happened in the Bible. After reading the story of "The Rich Young Ruler" in Matthew 19, I've had students ask, "Did he ever come back to Christ? Did he ever decide to give up his riches for God?" The answer is, we don't know. These are big decisions that most people cannot make quickly. Most of the time, our impact on people's lives cannot be measured in a short period of "I say this, you believe that, you accept Christ, and the problems are gone."
In Captive, we have a story of two lost people, who both have different problems, but who are both struggling with drug addiction and missing a child they are not able to raise. At one point, the captor asks the captive, "If I were the one who killed your husband, could you forgive me?" She says, "I really don't know. But maybe God could." It's very real. It's the way things really could and really did happen - not something we get in very many movies from any worldview. Ashley's life was changed permanently for the better. Was Brian's? Only time can tell.
The production and the acting in the movie were excellent, the main character being played by one of our recent favorite actresses, Kate Mara (Sue Storm in Fantastic Four, Summer Jones/Wonder in Zoom). Brian Nichols is played by Golden Globe Nominee David Oyelowo (Agent Kallus in Star Wars Rebels and Steven Jacobs in Rise of the Planet of the Apes).
Want to win your own FREE copy of Captive? Just leave a comment below or on my Facebook page with the name of your favorite recent movie. I'll hold the drawing one week from today, on Saturday, January 30.
About the movie:Based on a miraculous story about the power of faith, Captive is an "amazing, inspiring" drama about the spiritual collision of two lost souls, Brian Nichols (Golden Globe Nominee David Oyelowo), on the run from police and desperate to make contact with his newborn son, takes recently widowed mother Ashley Smith (Kata Mara) hostage in her own apartment. Fearing for her life and desperately hoping to see her daughter again, she turns to Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life for guidance. Ashley and her captor face a crossroads where they discover hope and light in the midst of despair in the moving film that Dick Rolfe, CEO, Dove Foundation hailed as "powerful."
DVD Release Date: January 5, 2016Runtime: 96 minutesRating: PG-13 (for mature thematic elements involving violence and substance abuse)
There are over 30 minutes of bonus content on this DVD including Journey Through Darkness: Filming Captive and Faith and The Purpose Driven Life. Also included with this DVD is a Digital HD copy that can be instantly streamed and downloaded.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
SOCIAL • CORNER
For more information about the true story, see Today News.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.
Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. Or if you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.
My favorite recent movie was Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation. Thanks for the giveaway. Bernie W BWallace1980(at)hotmail(d0t)com
ReplyDeleteMy favourite recent movie would be one I recently bought called "Finding Love in Sugarcreek."
ReplyDeleteE-mail is in profile.
My favorite recent movie (one of two I have watched in the past 4 months) was Scarlett. It's a sequel to Gone With The Wind, and I had been wanting to see it for a long time. As a sequel, it was a huge disappointment, but it was good by itself if I wasn't comparing it to the original. I like period dramas :)
ReplyDelete