Robert's Review

"God Help Me" is low-budget Christian romantic comedy, written and produced by Dan Olds (who sent us the DVD to review). One day at church Ryan (Tom Miner) and Trudy (Shelley Findley) meet for the first time. Ryan becomes instantly infatuated with her and asks her out soon thereafter. Trudy, however, tells him that she doesn't date… at all. She happens to be waiting for God to reveal Mr. Right to her. Ryan decides to leave it at that and doesn't pursue her anymore, wanting to respect "God's Plan." When Ryan's friends find out how much he likes her, they devise a plan (behind Ryan's back) to convince her that God wants her to be with him. Each crazy, harebrained scheme Jack (George Moss), Lon (Jim Anderson), and Bridgett (Candace Orrino) come up with backfires, but they're persistent and won't give up until Ryan and Trudy are together. When each scheme fails, however, they must continually rationalize and justify their crazy schemes as they begin to ponder the question: "Is it really OK to play God in someone's life?"

As we tell everyone who submits a movie for us to review – we re going to be honest in every review. That said, I found "God Help Me" to be nearly unwatchable due to all the bad acting, horrible cinematography, unlikable characters and weak script. I'm sure that there was nothing but good intentions behind this movie, but the characters were simply unlikable… Ryan is a big doofus (and NOT the funny kind either), Lon and Bridgett are always fighting and really started getting on my nerves, the church pastor is really gives off a strange vibe (I think he was just over-acting or something… his performance came off as very forced), and Trudy is almost scary in her beliefs (maybe it's just me, but still, she seemed on the lunatic fringe). The one surprising performance was George Moss as Jack... I had never heard of him before, but apparently he's an up-and-coming Christian Hip-Hop / Rap artist. He plays a brainiac and math wiz through the whole movie, but at the end there's a scene where (out of nowhere) he busts into a really good Rap song – it really surprised me. That was the one good part (for me) in the whole movie. Sadly, the rest was just a hodgepodge of random stuff – including several separate scenes of Ryan dressed at a rooster and doing the "Rooster Hop." Was it needed in the script? Not at all. Was it even entertaining? Sadly, no. 

If anyone wants to see this movie (despite our warning), then feel free to check out their official website or their MySpace. 

www.godhelpmemovie.com
www.myspace.com/godhelpmemovie

All in all, I'd give this movie 1 STAR (out of 5). Re-watch value: NONE

"God Help Me" is a "romantic comedy" (a term used loosely) about a group of friends trying to play match maker.  Trudy (Shelley Findley) is the girl of Ryan's (Tom Miner) dreams. Only catch is Trudy is waiting for God to reveal Mr. Right to her and Ryan is not exactly what she had in mind.  When Ryan and his buddies discover this they devise a plan behind Ryan's back to convince Trudy that God has chosen her to be with Ryan.  With less than brilliant ideas each plan backfires and each scheme gets more ridiculous in this gut busting comedy as his friends Jack (George Moss), Lon (Jim Anderson), and Bridgett (Candace Orrino) dig themselves deeper and deeper into trouble as they try to rationalize and justify each hair brain scheme to convince Trudy that she is meant to be with Ryan. What happens when you play God with someone's life?  Find out as you watch this off the wall comedy about dating and relationships. 

I understand movies made on a budget might not be as "popular as big budget productions, however with that said if a movie is on a budget, then the story, the plot and the acting has got to be very, very good.  Without the other ingredients the movie will totally just suck.  I'm not saying a big production budget will make a great movie (we have seen some really big disappointments with big budget movies).  I am saying that the story and acting has to be more the focus than the money, if this is not the case then unfortunately low budget movies will go nowhere.  I have had the privilege of watching low budget movies that had really good acting, and a fairly descent plot, however "God Help Me" was not one of those.  I will admit however that Moss and Orrino did a really nice job of trying to carry the movie; especially Moss (his acting was really stellar) but it couldn't help the overall story.  We have seen this Romantic comedy before, friends trying to hook up other friends up.  This story just adds the Christian element to it so now instead of playing matchmaker they play god.  I think to a Christian audience this might be an ok movie, however to the general public if you really must then rent or wait for cable.

Overall Review: 2 Stars (out of 5). Re-Watch Value: None (If you must see it, then rent or cable it).

courtesy
www.myspace.com/thepopcornreview