Review: Old Fashioned #oldfashionedmovie

I am probably too medicated to have been able to cry at all the right parts in the indie film "Old Fashioned." Oh, don't say that, they will say. Don't cop to your being medicated. That doesn't reflect well on Christianity. You should be able to pray away all your depression and anxiety....

I know I run a risk in reviewing a film that is Christian-themed. I might align myself with the more-righteous-than-thou who decry my meds. I might also align myself with the fanwagoners who try to pack the theaters when any faith-based film projects onto a silver screen.

The cool thing about Old Fashioned, which several of my colleagues helped to direct and produce, is that it is a film that is so counter-cultural, it is effectively without niche. It is not a Kirk Cameron morality tale. It is not a saccharine rom-com with Nicholas Sparks-caliber lines.

Old Fashioned is, on the surface, a sweet romantic tale about a born-again believer man who has grown a tad curmudgeonly in his set apart ways, and the attractive tenant who moves in above his antique store. The romance spools slowly and sweetly. As each character unpacks his and her personal histories, we see their fine lines and their friction.

But Old Fashioned is also about a larger love story. The film is an allegory for the Gospel, about how a perfect God came to offer a perfect love in a broken world. There are moments in Old Fashioned, whose lighting is perfect and whose soundwork is really strong, that crystallize perfectly the way divine grace is offered freely, and how we reject it and fail to offer it to each other in the form of forgiveness.

Old Fashioned is not a perfect movie. At times the script felt a little uneven to me.  Sometimes scenes where body language and facial expressions were totally winning felt a little squandered because the dialogue bordered on the preachy. But it is a good film with solid performances and a wonderful message for the righteous, the proud, the hypocritical, dastardly, wicked and vain. And even the overly medicated.

Way recommending: "Who's Picking Me Up from the Airport?"

I am an unlikely audience member for Who's Picking Me Up from the Airport?: And Other Questions Single Girls Ask and for this reason, I read it with great relish. What I hadn't anticipated is how much I would enjoy it and, moreover, how much I would have needed it!

This book is effectively an encouragement for Christian women who are single and age 30+. These women are single not due to widowhood or separation/divorce but because they are still seeking a life's partner. Still seeking--that's the error in the perception as the book readily points out. Author Cindy Johnson lays bare what a raw deal single women, especially those in the Church, are given. Ever being postured as not quite whole, their lives not fully realized because they are not yet paired off with someone--we have done a terrible job of ministering to singles and focusing for way too long on their relationship status. The chapter that spoke most into my heart was "Call It What It Is: Why Being Single is Lame" where Johnson offers a "what not to say" to one's single friends. I have been the offender in almost every one of the points offered. Points. Well. Taken!

The book is not long--150 pages and it is organized in a brilliant way that reads easily, like a memoir. Johnson pairs her own anecdotes as well as letters from her single friends, both male and female, who share their stories in dating and seasons of singledom. Johnson discusses so many beautiful aspects of the single life and how rich it is, but she also shares her journey through relationships that she had expected to turn out otherwise. Her voice is delightful, not just in contrast to the voice one might expect from a non-fiction book on dating and the single life. Johnson's tone is consistently sincere and funny and she pulls no punches. This book is a gift and I believe that it would be a great gift for a friend, an addition to a pastor's bookshelf, and would be a great women's book club pick.

***

*Johnson and I have gotten acquainted through our mutual literary agent. I received a free copy of this book in advance with no expectation of review or endorsement.

Kendra Starter Kit

This is always a fun exercise and I hope you'll link to this post if you do this, too. So, if you found a shoebox full of things that captured either my tastes or told you about myself, that shoebox might include:

Album: Stevie Wonder "Songs in the Key of Life" - just my all-time favorite artist and favorite Stevie Wonder songs

Non-fiction Book: My Korean Deli: Risking It All for a Convenience Store - this is like a viewfinder switching back and forth between two scenes close to my heart--a Korean family business and the Paris Review literary mag. Trust. Hilarious and poignant, as well.

Fiction Book: Eleanor & Park - This book gave me crazy book grief. I've wandered around for a week afterward just pining for the characters and wishing the story were real and resolved.

Film: Little Women. The Winona Ryder/Christian Bale one just gives me all the feels. Plus, female writer protagonist FTW!

Accessory: I usually order glasses from SEE or Zenni. I do like a good cat eye.

Snack: Twizzler's Pull n' Peel. I know they are made of cherry-flavored shoe leather. Does not care.

Picture: One that makes me smile for miles. My two little treasures, so wee!