'I Still Believe' Has Intimate Moments, But Isn't The Real Thing [Review]

“I Still Believe” is the latest in the Christian Pamphlet genre. Joining films like “Overcomer” and “God’s Not Dead” in a class of pictures notable for their goodwill and poor filmmaking, ‘Believe’ chronicles the real-life story of Jeremy Camp. From the start of his days in college to the end of a relationship, filmmakers, the Erwin Brothers, have made it their mission to take this Grammy-nominated musician and make him a symbol of faith at a crossroads—his girlfriend is sick and only God can help. But the whole movie is at a crossroads. Between a saccharine script and disjointed editing, this is yet another faith-based picture more concerned with bringing audiences to God than saying anything of real spiritual importance. The power of Christ compels Christian directors to do better! 

READ MORE: ‘I Still Believe’ Trailer: KJ Apa Has A Song About God He’d Like To Share With You In New Faith-Based Drama

This isn’t the first music biopic from the Erwins. In 2018, the two made a financially successful yet critically panned tribute to the band MercyMe. Titled “I Can Only Imagine,” the film raked in more than $85 million at the box office despite frustrating viewers who were looking for something… well, more fine-tuned. It’s hardly a miracle that ‘Believe’ is an improvement—it does occasionally tug at the heartstrings. But you will spend most of the run time rolling your eyes, checking your watch, and wondering why exactly you bought a ticket to a seminar on God’s everlasting graciousness? 

Things open to the usual narrative beats. With a sunrise resting over Indiana’s plains, drone shots give us a visual sermon on the Lord’s boundless powers. Accompanied by John Debney’s humming score, these early moments are admittedly peaceful. As is our introduction to Jeremy (KJ Apa). Running around his house, packing for college, audiences get a sense of his good-natured persona. He hugs his disabled brother. Kisses his parents goodbye. And most importantly, he never breaks his smile, mainly because he is stoked to get on the bus to school. Not before dad (Gary Sinise) gives him some words of encouragement and a new guitar.

The Erwins’ script spends more time promoting Jeremy’s work—and God—than developing characters, not realizing that rom-coms are essentially character studies. With a sense of humor, Jeremy asks out a girl named Melissa (Britt Robertson) on his first day at school. While this should be an on-campus meet-cute in the style of “Love Story,” these two lovers don’t talk about the usual stuff (school, friends, sex). Instead, they chat about “God’s destiny.” “God wants us to be running toward this,” Jeremy tells her. Maybe. But we want romantic characters who can participate in romantic activities; characters who remind us of our own college romances spent flirting, trading jokes, and wasting days doing nothing but keeping each other company.

Still, ‘Believe’ admirably tries to connect with secular audience members by asking universal questions. Why do bad things happen to good people? Why would God let someone get cancer? These questions arise when Melissa abruptly becomes ill. In a third act that riffs on everything from “Love Story” to “The Fault in Our Stars,” Jeremy takes his pain and converts it into something useful: his music. The movie also uses this shift in tone for the better, leaving the over-lit, overtly dull attempts at comedy in the rearview mirror. 

Is this moving third act enough to cancel out the faux gentleness of the first two? That depends on your tolerance toward protagonists who feel more like pastors and less like everyday students. Despite the attractiveness of Apa and Robertson, and their committed performances, they are too often reduced to dialogue preachy enough to be spoofed by Ned Flanders. That isn’t to say there aren’t moments of grace. Even haters will smile when Jeremy proposes despite Melissa’s sickness.

But the movie’s overarching troubles can be summed up in a single scene.  When Jeremy and Melissa go stargazing at the Griffith Observatory, they talk about how much more resplendent real stars look. “I Still Believe” has its intimate moments, but it isn’t the real thing. [C-]