Brian Castelli – With His Heart

I recently rented the movie, “Hancock,” starring Will Smith as John Hancock, reluctant super hero. (Using RedBox for the first time! $1 a night! Try it!) In entertainment terms, it was so-so. The special effects were good, the acting was fair, but the story had holes a mile wide. At the center of it all, though, was the story of John Hancock’s redemption. When the movie opens, we find that Hancock isn’t well liked. Many of the people in the city want him gone. Along the way, Hancock saves the life of a professional PR man who, in return, helps Hancock with his image.

At first the changes are superficial. Hancock sticks to the script he’s been given and pretends to be different. Through a series of events, however, he goes through a true transformation – one that enables him to lay his own life on the line for someone else.

I like redemption stories because they strike very close to home for us. At some level, we’re all messed up like Hancock. John Eldredge in his book, “Wild at Heart,” says that we’re all posers, hoping that no one gets a peek under our fig leaves. In the movie, Hancock is, in a way, running from himself. He knows that he has flaws, and he protects himself from that knowledge by adopting a, “I don’t give a hoot,” attitude.

Isn’t that just like us? I mean, aren’t there times in our lives when our #1 goal is to cover our weakness in order to appear strong? And, although I like redemption stories, Hancock falls well short of reality. That is, we actually can’t fix ourselves. on our own power, we can change for a time and even make steps in the right direction. But it takes something outside of us, something greater, to affect true change.

Here’s the bottom line: We’re all the same. We’re all messed up. In fact, we’re messed up beyond our ability to fix it. We can’t do it on our own power. This is where Jesus steps in. Romans 5:8 tells us that God loved us so much that he saved us while we were still sinners. No clean up required. No perfect saints in this church. Just saints that have been cleaned up by God.

Jesus changes things. That’s true redemption.

I highly recommend a movie called Saints and Soldiers. It’s an excellent WWII flick. It won “Best Picture” accolades at 11 minor film festivals in the US and Europe. This is the best movie you haven’t heard about because there are no big-name stars in the cast. Saints and Soldiers is not a vehicle for a box office champion. It succeeds on the quality of the writing, acting and directing. Imagine that!

The synopsis of the movie, taken from www.saintsandsoldiers.com is:

“‘Saints and Soldiers’ is a dramatic, intense and heroic WWII film about members of the Greatest Generation struggling to be both good men and good soldiers.

In mid-December 1944, while Hitler’s army blitzkriegs through the Ardennes Forest in Belgium, American sharpshooter Corporal Nathan Greer, known as Deacon, finds himself held captive with over one hundred other American soldiers in a snow-covered field.

As panic and confusion ensue, the German soldiers open fire on the American prisoners, in the historical event now known as the Malmedy Massacre. Greer, his friend Gordon Gunderson, and a handful of others escape the massacre by hiding in the nearby woods.

The small band of soldiers come across a stranded British intelligence officer with valuable information to be delivered to Allied forces, further upping the stakes of their already dangerous situation.

With few weapons, no food and a strained camaraderie, this tiny band must take on the unforgiving winter to fight their way back to Allied territory.”

Saints and Soldiers is rated PG-13 for war-related violence. There is quite a bit of death and blood, but the language is mild and there is no sex/ . This isn’t your typical “shock and awe” Hollywood film. It’s well done.

The synopsis talks about there being a “strained camaraderie” among the men. The most interesting example to watch is the tension between Deacon and the medic, Steven Gould. Deacon is a Bible-carrying former missionary who believes because of what he’s seen while Gould is an atheist who doesn’t believe because of what he’s seen. Their relationship is one of several sub-plots that help make this movie well worth watching.

If you want to see heroes, this is the movie for you.