The Adventures of Chris Fable movie review

I want to recommend this film, but I can't do it with a few caveats. The cover looks like a Harry Potter knockoff and the description available at the Redbox kiosk was accurate, but vague at best.

This full-length, live-action feature film sometimes seems low budget, but I don't really need a billionaire to tell me a good story - so that is the least of my concerns with this film.

It has some pretty scary elements. The bigger kids (9&up) were not concerned, but the 5 & 3 year old crowd were practically terrified; one refused to close his eyes, but instead shouted, "Turn it off! Make it stop!" throughout the more intense portions. But, even this is not a major concern for me.

The movie sends Chris[tian] on an adventure, where his only real friends are Faith and Hope and he has a "book" for a guide. Scriptural quotes are interspersed, like "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it" (Matthew 7:13-14) as instructions for Chris to remember as he travels to the Celestial City in search of his father. 


The story ends with Chris being reunited with his father and entering the Celestial City as the narrator/storyteller encourages viewers to walk like a Christian and use the good book as your guide. 


As a spoof or allegory, it's fine. But, as a teaching tool, heresy abounds. 

I thought it would have some liberal 'play nice with others' kind of message, and I was totally surprised that it was a biblical (well, pseudo-biblical) film. The Bible, the Law, the Gospel, and Jesus Christ are never mentioned, of course, but my 9 year old could easily point out the many obvious references to modern evangelical Christian teachings. As a Christian film, it is law based and leans to the liberal end of the evangelical spectrum. 

My kids liked the movie... but, it leaves a lot to talk about. If you liked CS Lewis's "The Screwtape Letters" then, this film has that same sort of element - Satan and his minions are around every corner and waiting to trick you.

Have you seen it? What did you think?

The Class Reunion

Have you ever been to a class reunion? I just attended my first... at 20 years! Yes, we all cared that much. It was actually a great turnout, I would guess about 75% of our class showed up. I had no idea what to expect, but I can assure you that if you are worried about the extra weight you've gained or all those new wrinkles...everyone looks twenty years older and most of them have gained weight too.

Some look better than others. I had the honor of working the check-in table so I got to see everyone who came in. Some of the guys I would have never noticed in high school turned out to be very good-looking men. It works the other way too though, some of the guys who used to be super hot turned out to be... well, let's just say, not so hot anymore.

Some things were just as I'd expected. The girls who had lots of boyfriends in high school had had lots of husbands too. The boy who was in all the college prep classes and you just knew would make something of himself... well, here's out that conversation went.

Me: So, what have you been doing for twenty years.
Him: Oh, well, I went to school and then to work.
Me (curious after hearing lots of "I had a job for five months and now I'm looking for something else" and "Yeah, I've been at [name the factory] for twenty years" just had to ask) What kind of work do you do?
Him: (nonchalantly): I'm a doctor
Me: Oh

But, of course, what else?
I went nearly 6 months pregnant, and at first I was bummed that I didn't get to take advantage of the open bar. However, as the evening progressed and people around me got drunk while I stayed sober, things got very interesting. People I'd hardly known in high school suddenly became very friendly.

Maybe you're going or not going because of the "one that got away". There's always that one guy...you know, the big crush, the first love, the old flame; the one you thought you would never get over. He's the guy who still shows up in your dreams now and then, even twenty years later, and you still wonder what might have been. Unless you married your high school sweetheart, you know who I'm talking about and you are picturing him right now.

For me, it came down to one moment. I can still imagine myself sitting in his parents car behind the bowling alley. I didn't say no, but I hesitated. I wanted to say yes to his every request. Every ounce of my being wanted to. But, something stopped me; maybe it was immaturity or inexperience or maybe just plain fear. I didn't say no, but I didn't say yes. He let it go and never tried again.

As this reunion approached, I wondered if seeing him would bring me back to those moments, if it would reignite emotions I'd forgotten. At the end of the evening, I realized that it was God in that moment, just as it was God who has led me through all such moments and into the arms of my wonderful husband. I realized that any other path holds a reality of what would have been that can never come close to the fantasies of what could have been.

But, you really go to see where everyone else ended up in life and find out how your life measures up. I came home to a husband who has loved me every moment of the past eighteen years and six children who had worked hard to get our house unpacked and missed me dearly. I didn't marry my high school sweetheart and I never finished law school, but at the end of the day, my life is just what God had planned for me and it measures up pretty good.