The Encounter (2010) Bruce Marchiano, Steve Borden, Jaci Velasquez, Jamie Nieto, Danah Davis, Madison Gibney, Kass Connors, Marc Davies, Connor Greenbaum, Elizabeth Ince Movie Review

The Encounter (2010)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Bruce Marchiano in The Encounter (2010)

At a Crossroads Diner

It's a stormy night and five strangers find themselves having to take shelter in a roadside diner when the road is closed because of it becoming too dangerous to drive along. These strangers meet the owner, a man by the name of Jesus (Bruce Marchiano), who has a pleasant nature and seems to know everything. Each of the strangers from the single Melissa (Jaci Velasquez) to the cynical businessman Nick (Steve Borden) find themselves confronted by their inner feelings and current issues from running away to feeling lonely and depressed.

"The Encounter" is a Christian movie and somehow I have found myself watching and reviewing a few Christian movies recently and let me just say it has been an eye opening experience. In doing so my eyes have been opened to what current Christian cinema is like and it is very different to the few Christian movies I watched when I was a teenager. The acting is better, the production values are better, the preachy nature is more often than not better controlled and on whole they are a lot more entertaining and watchable, that is if you are willing to give them a try.

Steve Borden in The Encounter (2010)

Now the thing about most Christian movies is that they tend not be aimed at the masses but made for those who are already Christians. And that is the case of "The Encounter" as it isn't subtle in delivering its message about having faith in God to provide what we need and the riches of heaven rather than what we want. It is the sort of unsubtle Christian message which those not open to giving a movie a chance will end up likely mocking and not realising that part of "The Encounter" is about being self aware. It is also about the charm and the charisma of Bruce Marchiano who gives this interpretation of Jesus an easy going and likeable nature.

Now I could go on and mention the acting which I will tell you now having been a fan of TNA wrestling took me aback when I realised that Steve Borden, aka Sting, was in this movie and is in fact a born again Christian. But here is the biggest and most important thing I can say about "The Encounter" as it does a good enough job to get me past the various things which as a movie fan tend to bug me whilst making me question my own life. Whilst some who watch this might mock it there are a lot of aspects to "The Encounter" which are thought provoking and that really took me by surprise.

What this all boils down to is that Christian cinema is very different to how it was and whilst not perfect is much better than it once was. And "The Encounter" is a perfect example of this as it isn't perfect, it lacks subtlety and feels like it was made on a small budget for an already Christian audience to reaffirm their faith but when you give it a go it grabs your attention and makes you think.


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