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Why not simply emulate the climax of Miracle on 34th Street and prove Jesus’ existence by dumping sacks of letters addressed to him on the judge’s desk? Thus begins testimony by a procession of real-life authors, including one former detective who’s examined the gospels through the prism of determining the veracity of eyewitness testimony.
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The legal arguments presented are all over the map, from Grace’s lawyer first attempting to demonstrate that she wasn’t proselytizing before switching tactics to prove that Jesus was an actual historical figure. He’s played by Ray Wise, who actually seems more evil here than when he killed Laura Palmer in Twin Peaks.Ĭue the courtroom battle, which despite the filmmakers’ aspirations doesn’t exactly rise to the level of the Scopes Monkey Trial. He finds himself in a legal battle against the ACLU, here depicted as an organization only slightly more worthwhile than the Nazi Party, whose lawyer, Pete Kane, is determined to prove once and for all that God is dead. When Grace refuses to back down, she enlists the help of a young lawyer (Jesse Metcalfe), a nonbeliever, whose essential goodness is indicated by his fabulous dimples. “What were you thinking, Grace?” she chides.
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The school administration, including the principal played by Robin Givens, immediately grills poor Grace about her indiscretion, with even her union representative turning on her. Unfortunately, she makes the mistake of briefly quoting Scripture in the process, leading all holy hell to break loose. The straw man argument devised by screenwriters Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon involves a caring high school teacher, Grace (Melissa Joan Hart, apparently making up for once portraying a teenage witch), who responds to a student’s (Hayley Orrantia) question about Jesus by comparing his teachings to those of Martin Luther King Jr. Be careful not to moan, “God, this is a bad movie” while watching it, for fear that the ushers will promptly have you thrown in jail. Yes, we’re once again treated to a polemical drama attempting to demonstrate that Christians are under attack in this country, and are indeed, as one seemingly peace-loving character in the film puts it, “at war.” Dare to believe, the film suggests, and you will be subject to persecution. It comes in the form of the imaginatively titled God’s Not Dead 2, which doesn’t exactly leave the audience hanging in suspense about the outcome. Two years ago, the original faith-based film grossed an astounding $62 million (on a $2 million budget), so it didn’t take a prophet to foresee that there would be a sequel. Can we all agree, believers and atheists alike, to concede that God is not dead? It seems a minor capitulation, considering that the reward will be that there are no more God’s Not Dead movies.