I went to see Blue Like Jazz at a screening in LA and was amazing by the acting, the filming, and the direction. I think was more excited to see this than The Hunger Games movie.
Let me begin by saying that I don't traditionally like Christian movies. I find they are often too cheesy (and not the good kind that would come on a pizza) for my taste. They either try too hard to be "Christian" and put unnecessary Christian dialogue or action in the movie or too hard to appeal to a secular audience and have lost all Christian themes/morals in the movie. I'm not saying that Christian movies are awful and I know many people who like them. But they are the equivalent of Hallmark or Nora Roberts movies - good for a quick cry and then easily forgettable.
What is different about Blue Like Jazz is the hoensty. Donald Miller knows how to tell good stories. I think that is why I like him as an author is he tells amazing stories. His books don't feel like regular Christian books but rather like you are in a coffee shop with him and he is telling you his life story. The movie has the same feel, like you are sitting down with 20 year old Don Miller and he is telling you about his first year at Reed College in Portland and how Jesus met him through his pot smoking, beer drinking, and lesbian classmates.
The characters in this movie are real, partly because they are all based on real people, but also the actors portray them exceptionally well. The movie allows you to question why you "do" religion but also brings you back to the essential point of the power and necessity of Jesus. I like that the movie itself never questions who Jesus is but rather you are watching Don question him. It allowed me to go there with Don (if I needed to) or to watch along, emphasizing with him. It allowed me to evaluate my own life - where had Jesus met in the past and where did I need him to meet me again.
It was a beautiful story and I cannot wait to see it again.
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