Chronicle reviews controversial film ‘Blue Like Jazz’
Online now, find an expanded review of the film “Blue Like Jazz,” which debuts on movie screens today.
The online version contains a few additional thoughts from reviewer Joshua Watson that didn’t appear in the print edition (which should be in mailboxes now).
Watson saw the film in Oklahoma City during an advance screening that included Donald Miller, author of the 2003 bestseller on which the movie is based, and director Steve Taylor.
Here’s a web-exclusive tidbit that Watson picked up from that screening:
Don (Marshall Allman) and Penny (Claire Holt) and in “Blue Like Jazz.” (Photo via www.bluelikejazzthemovie.com)
The film already has stirred up controversy in the emerging Christian film industry, said director Steve Taylor, who also spoke at the screening.
“There’s a certain church in Georgia that created a movie called ‘Fireproof,'” Taylor said. “For some reason, they have said that if you work with “Blue Like Jazz,” you can’t work with that church’s next movie. I just don’t understand that.”
Read the full review.
Have you seen the film or read the book? Please share your thoughts.
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We listened to the audio book BLJ and loved it. We saw a test screening early in 2012 at NCYM. We will see it in the theaters, too. The attraction and benefit of BLJ for us is that we experienced the story of people from different backgrounds as they grew in their appreciation for Jesus. It also gave us some insight into the spiritual environment that our kids have experienced. We are in our mid-forties and serving to strengthen the marriage relationships of people of all ages and backgrounds. BLJ � the book and what we saw at the test screening � empowered us to have some empathy for those who didn�t grow up with our 20th Century bible-belt background; and to address their questions about Jesus with better understanding.
My favorite lines from the book and movie have to do with “Liking Jesus.” Penny – wasn’t it Penny – in the book wondered whether Jesus would like her because she didn’t think his followers liked her. In the movie, she says, “I like Jesus.” That’s my favorite part.