I'm Just a Ragamuffin

Last evening I traveled with some friends toward Richmond to see "Ragamuffin." The film is the story of Rich Mullins, a prominent Christian musician of the 1980s who met an untimely demise. If you're looking for a film that looks at Christian music with rose colored glasses, then this is not your film.  If you're looking for a life full of hope and peace, this is not your film. If you're looking for a clear picture that we are all broken people who without the love of God are on self-destruct mode, this is your film.

The film is well made overall, it is beautifully shot and has some of the best acting I've seen in a Christian movie, ever. Even though Michael Koch who plays Mullins, looks more like Josh Duhamel than Rich Mullins, I thought he did an admirable job portraying this tortured, tortured musician who was a really quite self-absorbed and could be quite the jerk. His personal musicianship is quite evident, he really did play that piano and guitar and made a great effort to sound like Mullins when he sang. I will say, that I felt like the movie was about an hour too long.  I know they wanted to be true to Mullins story, but I feel like they lost me at one point. I had the idea early on that he was a tortured soul who was trying really hard to work out his relationship with the Lord.  Additionally, there were continuity problems, especially Mullins hair length changed it seemed from scene to scene.

Mullins story is one of disappointment and pain, of a painful and dysfunctional family relationship, and of a heart that only God ever understood. I guess his story isn't that much different than a lot of people's stories.  Aren't we all just one step away from falling flat on our faces?  It's Mullins association with Brennan Manning that brings him face-to-face with the idea that his God isn't afraid of Rich Mullins' flaws and wants to be his healer.  As a quote from Manning illustrates, “To live by grace means to acknowledge my whole life story, the light side and the dark. In admitting my shadow side I learn who I am and what God's grace means.”

This movie is only playing at a few venues, you can find if the tour is coming nearby here:
http://ragamuffinthemovie.com/

The Stand Outs

It snowed a decent amount here yesterday, and I got caught up on some of DVR'ed shows. Here's a couple standouts from the new crop of shows in 2013/2014 that I like.

The Black List (NBC)

A thriller/mystery show that centers around a young FBI profiler named Elizabeth Keane (Megan Boone). One day, one of the FBI's most wanted walks into FBI headquarters and gives himself up. Red Reddington (James Spader) asks to speak to this unassuming young woman. He has information on criminals the FBI doesn't even know exist, but he will only give the information to Elizabeth. Thus begins the trail of intrigue, deception, and dysfunction that keeps the viewer guessing. Boone is likeable enough as Keane and is an acceptable foil for Spader. However, it's Spader who makes this show, he and the writer who scripts his character must be cosmically connected. I honestly think if "Breaking Bad" had its last season earlier, he would wipe up at all the awards shows. He's so horrible, but sometimes the things that he says make you laugh out loud. If you like the "bad guy as good guy" trend, you will love this show.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC)

Clark Gregg as Agent Colson.  That's all I should really have to say to anyone who has seen Thor or the Avengers. I love his wry sense of humor, but I think I love the idea that this guy who looks like an accountant could break you in a second. It's another dysfunctional little family, that is fiercely loyal to one another. The thing is, it lacks is a real nemesis, so I am hoping that gets cleared up soon. But, I enjoy the banter, I enjoy the characters discovering who they are, and I love the references to the Marvel movies.

Sleepy Hollow (FOX)

Action/adventure/spiritual warfare/fantasy couched in a crime procedural, not unlike NBC's "Grimm." However, unlike "Grimm" our hero is really, really engaging. (Sorry, David Guintoli). Lt Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie) of the Sleepy Hollow police department has teamed up with Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) to save the world from the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Oh, I am sorry, I did say Ichabod Crane as in the character from Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Evidently, Crane was married to a witch who placed a spell on him so he did not die.  He is unearthed in 2013 and sets out with Lt. Mills (he calls her "Left-tenant" in the proper English way) to solve a mystery that goes back to the Founding Fathers and rescue his wife from purgatory. Tom Mison is super-engaging as Crane, this man from the 18th century trying to fit in today. The day Abbie buys him a pair of skinny jeans is almost as funny as his rant about needing a smart phone. It is dark and pretty creepy. It does mix Biblical truth with dark elements; I would not recommend it for kids. I can't help but think that the writers are on a search for truth, but can't reconcile all these influences.

Intelligence (CBS)

This is the newest of the shows, it only started in January. This is the story of a former military special ops guy who is implanted with a chip that turns him into a super-computer (can anyone say "Chuck" or I guess more accurately Bryce Larkin). Josh Holloway plays Gabriel Vaughn and Meghan Ory the Secret Service agent brought in to protect Vaughn from himself. He has a tendency to go a little bit rogue in search of his wife, who is presumed dead as a participant in a terror attack in Mumbai. I have to admit, it's the actors in this one that have me hooked.  Holloway played Sawyer in "Lost," and Ory plays Red Riding Hood on "Once Upon a Time." The supporting cast includes Marg Helgenberger of "C.S.I." fame and John Billingsley, whom you have seen in everything from "Star Trek: Enterprise" to "24" to bit parts on "The Mentalist" and "Criminal Minds." While the action is interesting, it's the human story of Holloway's search for his wife that I find engaging.

Jack Ryan's Latest Redux

I grew up in the 1970s.  One of my favorite shows was "CHiPs"; if you were alive back then, you remember Erik Estrada's teeth.  However, one of my favorite characters on the show was Captain Getraer, played  by Robert Pine. 

Robert Pine was that guy you saw all the time, on "Cannon," "Mod Squad," "Magnum P.I.," "Dynasty," "Dallas," "LA Law," "Baywatch," and the list goes on and on.  IMDb has 198 credits listed for this working actor. He never was the leading man, but this handsome man was the dad, the congressman, the police captain, the judge, or the principal.

A couple years ago, I saw this guy in Princess Diaries 2 and thought, "dang he looks like Robert Pine." (I know I'm one of only a few people who would think that...one of my quirks.) Turned out that I was right.  It was his son, Chris Pine. A few years later he landed the role that catapulted him to the stardom that his dad never knew, as James T. Kirk in J.J. Abrams redux of "Star Trek."

This weekend, Chris has taken on another iconic role, Jack Ryan; Tom Clancy's American hero played previously by Alec Baldwin, Ben Affleck, and most memorably by Harrison Ford.  Of course, this is the young Jack Ryan, an economics student who joins the Marines after 9/11. He is seriously injured when his helicopter is shot down over Afghanistan.  Despite his injuries, he distinguishes himself by pulling two of his men to safety. While in rehab at Walter Reed, he meets two people who set his life on opposing paths, a young doctor named Cathy (Keira Knightley) and a CIA handler (Kevin Costner).  Fast forward ten years, Jack is planted in NYC as part of the financial industry. He's an analyst, there to watch where the money goes and prevent terrorism. He and Cathy are engaged. He finds some sketchy transactions from the Russians that could mean disaster for the U.S. economy. He goes to Russia to perform an audit (how un-Jack Ryan is that) and meets Vicktor Cherevin (Kenneth Branagh). From there, the snowball of action rolls, and it kept me on the edge of my seat.

Chris took on Ryan fearlessly. At once he was Marine, CIA agent, brilliant geeky economist, fierce patriot and protector, gentle lover, and broken warrior. The scene with Kevin Costner in the park was a great piece of acting.  I have to say that hearing Keira Knightley without an English accent threw me for a loop. So much so, it had me suspicious of her the entire movie. Perhaps that was the work of Kenneth Branagh, who not only played the villain brilliantly but was also the film's director.  Costner was solid as Ryan's handler and he and Pine had great chemistry.

I am sure that Chris' working actor dad is bubbling with pride in some theater in CA this weekend. "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit" is a great addition to the legacy of Jack Ryan and a likely beginning to another franchise of the character. I definitely see Costner, Knightley, and especially Pine in another Jack Ryan movie.