The Ultimate Life

The Ultimate Life (2013)

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PG - Drama - 6 September 2013
Big Blue Sky Rating : 3.9/10

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Director : Michael Landon Jr.
Writers : Brian Bird, Cheryl McKay
Stars : Logan Bartholomew, Peter Fonda, Ali Hillis, Bill Cobbs

Jason Stevens survived the journey his grandfather Red Stevens sent him through for "the Ultimate Gift". Now...That gift which includes managing a Billion dollar foundation is being challenged by his own family. In a courtroom battle...his assets are seized...his love interest with Alexia gets complicated...Jason could lose it all...He is now on a quest to discover what it truly means to fulfill his destiny...And Live.

It feels like DVD bonus material for the original film

I really enjoyed The Ultimate Gift (original film) and saw it at a time in my life where it really hit home and really registered with me. I was greatly looking forward to this sequel. Having said that, something seemed missing this time around. To be honest, this entire movie feels like DVD bonus material for that original film. That's not a bad thing but despite a great message, this effort feels lacking. I enjoyed the Red Stevens back story but the writing and story feels somewhat shallow and incomplete. Since I enjoyed and was moved by the first film, this extended look appealed to me. Truthfully, as a stand alone film it really doesn't hold up well at all even delivering a wonderful message and few points to live by and dwell upon.

More than worth watching if you enjoyed the first film.

Watch The Ultimate Life Trailer :

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The Last Sin Eater

The Last Sin Eater (2007)

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PG-13 - 117 min - Drama - 9 February 2007
Big Blue Sky Rating : 5.5/10

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Director : Michael Landon Jr.
Writers : Brian Bird, Michael Landon Jr.
Stars : Louise Fletcher, Henry Thomas, Liana Liberato, Soren Fulton

Appalachia, 1850. A generation ago a group of Welshmen came across the ocean to build a new existence and with them they brought their own traditions and rituals. One of them is the sin eater, a mysterious person, forced to live in the woods and mountains, only to come out when somebody dies. He then pawns his own soul to take away the sins of the deceased. 10 year old Cadi Forbes meets the sin eater for the first time at the funeral of her grandmother and is immediately intrigued. Cadi is torn by guilt over the death of her little sister Elen and wants the sin eater to redeem her. With the help of Fagen, son of the ruthless village leader Brogen, and the imaginary Lilybet, she starts a search to find him, but by doing so Cadi slowly, but surely unravels dark and terrible secrets.

Flawed but deeply felt

This is a film that requires some willing suspension of disbelief, since its makers seem possibly to be prey to the fallacy that it enough that Christian art be Christian. Which is not to say that they didn't get most of it right, just that their missteps are so avoidable. Fortunately, most (like the young star's unbelievably sumptuous wardrobe) weren't major distractions for me. But the crudeness of the special effects scenes (which, thankfully, are brief) did disrupt my experience, as I wondered, "What were they thinking that this looked right to them?"

Most of the cast does a truly fine job, with all the central characters (the Forbes family and Fagan Kai) getting moving, heartfelt and convincing performances from their players. There's a relationship here between quantity of screen time and quality, so the minor characters remain pretty two-dimensional, though not distractingly so.

The cinematography (except for special effects, as noted) is beautiful and effective, and successfully evokes the feeling of confining, dense Appalachian woods and isolation.

Bottom line: despite its minor shortcomings, this is an effective, affecting, non-preachy and original retelling of one of the central concepts of Christianity.

Watch The Last Sin Eater Trailer :

OR

The Last Sin Eater

The Last Sin Eater (2007)

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PG-13 - 117 min - Drama - 9 February 2007
Big Blue Sky Rating : 5.5/10

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Director : Michael Landon Jr.
Writers : Brian Bird, Michael Landon Jr.
Stars : Louise Fletcher, Henry Thomas, Liana Liberato, Soren Fulton

Appalachia, 1850. A generation ago a group of Welshmen came across the ocean to build a new existence and with them they brought their own traditions and rituals. One of them is the sin eater, a mysterious person, forced to live in the woods and mountains, only to come out when somebody dies. He then pawns his own soul to take away the sins of the deceased. 10 year old Cadi Forbes meets the sin eater for the first time at the funeral of her grandmother and is immediately intrigued. Cadi is torn by guilt over the death of her little sister Elen and wants the sin eater to redeem her. With the help of Fagen, son of the ruthless village leader Brogen, and the imaginary Lilybet, she starts a search to find him, but by doing so Cadi slowly, but surely unravels dark and terrible secrets.

Unconvincing, offensive, and trite film

My husband and I were intrigued by the title of this film because he knew that the concept of the "sin eater" was an old Welsh custom, and we were also interested in Appalachian stories. We did not know when we ordered the film that it was from "Fox Faith" and that it is basically evangelical Christian propaganda filmed in Utah. We found some of the acting to be earnest, but other than that the film was unconvincing, offensive, and trite. My husband teaches Welsh, and the film's "Welsh" accents were pathetic. And the idea that the Welsh settlers in 1830 to 1850 Appalachia were just superstitious Celts ignorant of the Bible and Christianity, and lacking any Christian values and virtues, is totally false, misleading and just plain bad history!

Watch The Last Sin Eater Trailer :

OR

The Ultimate Life

The Ultimate Life (2013)

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PG - Drama - 6 September 2013
Big Blue Sky Rating : 3.9/10

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Director : Michael Landon Jr.
Writers : Brian Bird, Cheryl McKay
Stars : Logan Bartholomew, Peter Fonda, Ali Hillis, Bill Cobbs

Jason Stevens survived the journey his grandfather Red Stevens sent him through for "the Ultimate Gift". Now...That gift which includes managing a Billion dollar foundation is being challenged by his own family. In a courtroom battle...his assets are seized...his love interest with Alexia gets complicated...Jason could lose it all...He is now on a quest to discover what it truly means to fulfill his destiny...And Live.

It feels like DVD bonus material for the original film

I really enjoyed The Ultimate Gift (original film) and saw it at a time in my life where it really hit home and really registered with me. I was greatly looking forward to this sequel. Having said that, something seemed missing this time around. To be honest, this entire movie feels like DVD bonus material for that original film. That's not a bad thing but despite a great message, this effort feels lacking. I enjoyed the Red Stevens back story but the writing and story feels somewhat shallow and incomplete. Since I enjoyed and was moved by the first film, this extended look appealed to me. Truthfully, as a stand alone film it really doesn't hold up well at all even delivering a wonderful message and few points to live by and dwell upon.

More than worth watching if you enjoyed the first film.

Watch The Ultimate Life Trailer :

OR