Persecuted (2014) Reviews

• Pure Christian propaganda

  tbrettge2014-10-17

  I watched the movie and was shocked that the "bad guy" is a senator that is trying to legislate a bill that guarantees religious freedom and tolerance. The "good guy" on the other end is a preacher that is against religious freedom and states that only Christian faith is acceptable. This is really really not up to democratic and modern standards. This is purely a Christian propaganda film that is supporting intolerance. I do not know how anything like this is even made in the twenty-first century. This is the worst movie I have seen in years.

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• Another Golden Raspberry Award nominee

  djfone2014-07-27

  This one's gonna compete with "God's Not Dead" and "America: Imagine the World Without Her" for a Razzie in the God 'n Country Division. I'm amused how the lead character is described as "The last obstacle to sweeping religious reform in America...". In other words, a theocracy in which everybody's a Christian. How could there be anything else in This Great Christian Nation? All you really need to know about this film is (1) Glenn Beck was a silent financial backer, according to Christy Lemire of rogerebert.com; and (2) respected character actors like Bruce Davison and James Remar must have been hungry and broke with winter coming on to take these roles. This storyline, in capable hands, could have made for a really good movie. This ain't it, not by a long shot, though the "Duck Dynasty" crowd will love it. At least I'll give it this: "Persecuted" had more laughs than "Sex Tape": One.

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• Through Alice's Looking Glass

  bkoganbing2014-07-18

  I came thoroughly prepared to trash Persecuted and I was not disappointed. This film which is being hawked as the fundamentalist world view or at least American view is like watching this country through Alice's Looking Glass. In the not too distant future an ambitious Senator played by Bruce Davison has it in mind to create something called an all faiths bill where folks from a different faiths will be required to recognize each other's diversity and not say anything bad about each other. Standing in the way of things is leading evangelical James Remar who insists on the biblical promise that Jesus is THE only way to God's forgiveness. When Davison tries to get him on board Remar who comes off in this like a poor man's Harrison Ford gives a resounding 'no'. After that he's framed for murder and he's running like Richard Kimble, but he fights back as best he can. As if we haven't had enough religious figures in scandal. Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker, Bishop Eddie Long to name a few. I sincerely doubt anyone would have to frame someone. But he's set up beautifully with a young teenage girl who later winds up dead and there's video to prove it. Not to mention all the priests who've been caught playing slap and tickle with altar boys. If there's anything wrong with this old world today it's too many people insisting their religion is the only way. I'm sure there are similar passages in all religious scripture saying their's is the only true faith. Interesting also that Persecuted came out at a time when five Catholic men ruled that a fundamentalist employer called Hobby Lobby has a religious exemption female employees can't get contraception. We've also seen the state of Mississippi pass a law codifying that businesses with owners who have sincere religious beliefs about gays doesn't have to deal with them. An anti-gay rights legal firewall before any gay rights laws are passed. Of course Christians are indeed Persecuted in many places on the globe, most notably in Sudan. But the slaughter of non-Moslems in that country is somehow the equivalent of some employer wanting to not deal with openly gay people or heaven forfend the idea of LGBTQ people having some kind of rights including marriage. But there will be an audience out there for Persecuted who think this is the wave of the future. Well boys and girls you're just going to have to get used to the idea that everyone who thinks as you do are not the only ones who have some rights on this old world. Persecuted is one arrogant movie in its concept and execution.

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• Great actors,sadly wasted

  realtybytes-12015-01-24

  I disagree with the reviewers who called this movie "pure Christian propaganda." There was nothing remotely Christian-like in this piece of narcissistic fantasy. Generally I love Christian movies, even when the production quality is slightly below par. But this one was just awful. Badly written (or edited), the script was extremely disjointed, and defied all logic as it jumped from scene to scene with no way to interpret what was happening. And the worst: if viewed by non-Christians, the message is one of extreme intolerance. Totally incongruous with the Christian values shared by millions. This movie deserved a zero rating, but the lowest rating available was one.

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• Horrible.

  BertramWilberforceWooster2014-07-17

  I attended a free showing tonight at a friend's church. I already had low expectations for this film, but even those were too high, apparently. This film is more than Right Wing Propaganda. This is a film so forced, it leaves any rational person scratching their heads. The whole film reads like an aborted subplot from the Left Behind series (and I admit I have read all 12 of the core series, even though I thought those seemed forced at times). None of the characters in this are at all relatable except to Christians who believe they are being persecuted by "The Liberal Media" in the United States. Just perusing the cast list, however, it should be obvious to anyone this is steeped in Hard Right bias (Fred Dalton Thompson and Gretchen Carlson are listed among the cast). If you want a film about people fleeing from persecution, watch Rambo. If you want a Right Wing film, I'd suggest Atlas Shrugged. But if you want a movie that is horribly plotted, horribly acted, and makes zero sense, this is the movie for you.

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