Welcome to another edition of the “The Valero Verdict” movie review. In this I will give you a quick movie review with a couple of bullet points of which I either liked or disliked. I will end the review with rating of the movie and a short overall thoughts.

On the docket today, the faith based film based on Jeremy Camp, I Still Believe.

I will walk by faith, even if I can’t see. 

Not everyone believes in faith, and that’s okay but for those who do, understand that faith is something that will carry you through each stage of your life. When we are challenged with the consistent struggles of life, how we react is always dependent on how deep our faith is.

The movie follows Jeremy Camp who when we are introduced to him seems like a charming young man about to start his journey into college. We witness the jump start of his path to becoming a global sensation. He stumbles across Jean-Luc (by lying his way into backstage) who has already “made it” and Luc takes him under his wing.

During the first concert, we are introduced to the relationship that would carry the rest of the film. The first time Camp (Apa) lays eyes on Melissa (Britt Robertson), you felt the instant chemistry between the two leads. How they decided to shoot this scene and how it played out was beautiful. They laid the bait and you were hooked.

As the movie progresses we see that Jean-Luc is in love with Melissa which causes a mass issue with an interesting love triangle. We understand how this plays out but they do a good job of casting doubt. We have a very “A Star is Born” (Cooper’s version) as Luc introduces Camp to the stage unpredictably to sing a song he just wrote. This scene was riveting because it showed you for the first time how much Melissa was falling in love with Camp.

The story of love has been told a million times in a million different ways but showing it through the eyes of faith, is something we have never seen before. What the movie gets right is that our journey along life doesn’t always go according to plan, we will lose battles, we will have our faith tested but at the end of the day, God is good all the time. It may not happen the way we want or how we want, but God makes things work.

The Erwin brothers did a good job of giving us the viewers hope, hope in the idea that love will prevail but things don’t always go according to plan. The duo did a wonderful job of building us up all while setting it up to tear us down. Often what faith-based movies get wrong is trying to “over Hollywood” the film. But they did a wonderful job of witnessing the power of faith through two people unwilling to give up on each other. 

Robertson/Apa chemistry gave us the ability to believe (pun intended) was what made this movie stand out. They did a wonderful job of engaging us the viewer and taking us inside the minds of Jeremy and Melissa Camp.

The Verdict:

*** 1/2 out of ***** gavels

I won’t pretend that “I Still Believe” is the best movie of the year but I will say it is very inspirational. Gunn/Erwin wrote a love story through the eyes of faith which saw Apa/Robertson sold us on the idea that Melissa/Jeremy were just like us. It’s heartfelt, it’s warm and it’s real.

Should You See It?: Yes. This is a warm heart-felt love story.

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