Unconditional

I love to go see a great movie. The challenge is that there are so few good movies today. Most revolve around sensationalism, sex and violence which seldom have a story that has much of an impact on my life. There always seems to be a similar type of script that brings little variation to the big screen. So when I do see a movie that has a message with great acting and an awesome script, it is so important to promote the movie. Last night my Anne and I had the privilege to pre-screen the movie, “Unconditional”. It was one of those movies where I caught myself wrapped up into the characters, the plot and the clear message. Yeah, I cried often throughout the movie because I gripped my heart and soul.

I am often slow to recommend Christian movies because they tend to be too plastic or shallow. Here is a movie that shows the real world of growing up without a father in a marginalized neighborhood. It showed the heartache of a young wife who loses her husband to a late night shooting and theft. He is out in the cold and rain after work and reaches out to a guy standing in the rain. He brings him some coffee, food and talks about his life story. It is after the young man leaves that the guy in the red hoodie hears gunshots and watches his new friend die on the wet asphalt. As the man is dying he gives the man a mission to tell his wife what really happened.

The movie revolves around the life of a farmer girl and a young African American boy that become best friends as little kids. The movies flashes back and forth from their youth to their adulthood and back to their youth.  Both of them end up experiencing tragedy and pain from a young age. It is during an attempted suicide that the young farmer girl helps a young little girl who has been hit by a car. As they are in the E.R. waiting to hear about the outcome she runs back into her special friend from school. The grown up farmer girl now gifted artist and writer rediscovers her childhood friend who has been to hell and back.

I have to admit that a lot of the work we do at New City-Barrio parallels this movie so I was so sensitive to the stories of the kids growing up in the projects without any real family. The movie revolves around this guy who had acted out on his anger and temper to find himself in jail only to discover a redeeming love and forgiveness that transforms his life. This smart college student turned thug now has become Papa Joe to a group of kids from the projects. His health has gone downhill with kidney failure so the movie goes back and forth from the tension of doing dialysis or helping these kids.

The story ultimately shows how great things can come out of tragedy. It isn’t easy to say this because I have experienced the loss of my mom due to cancer. I am presently experiencing the loss of my dad due to Dementia. This is even more difficult to see someone I love so much go from being an adult that is so capable to a little kid that can’t do much for himself. The movie shows the full life cycle of someone ready to end their life because of heartache to someone that lays their life down for those in real need.