Drama
2013 / 102 minutes
RATING: 7/10
This is a story about two prodigals. The first, Johnny Trey, was a one-hit wonder pop star who got into drugs and girls, before finding God, finding a good church, and repairing things with his wife.
His rise, fall, and rise again is over by the end of the opening credits and the rest of the film is about his daughter Grace, who is every bit as musically talented as her father. Grace plays with her dad in the church worship band, but likes doing things her own way, and she doesn’t have a good gauge on when and where to do so. So when she busts out a solo performance in the middle of the church worship time, her dad gives her a hard stare.
About fifteen minutes in, Johnny’s old agent, “Mossy,” comes calling. It turns out an Australia Idol contestant has won their version of the show singing Johnny’s old hit, Misunderstood, and that’s got folks interested in Johnny Trey once again. But Johnny isn’t all that interested in returning to his rock and roll life, and turns down Mossy’s offer for a tour and new album.
Grace is listening to all of this. When she gets in one more fight with her dad, she decides to send Mossy her own demo of the song, and when he likes it, Grace takes off to LA to try and make it on her own.
Cautions
Parents will know where this story is going the moment Grace takes her prodigal turn but may have some concerns about how graphic Grace’s fall will be. They don’t need to be too worried. It’s all handled with a lot of care, aided by the fact that while Grace is turning her back on her dad, she isn’t as bold in her rejection of God.
When a handsome celebrity wants Grace to come back to his place, she makes her excuses not to go. And when Music executives talk about trying to make use of her sexuality, and a fellow pop star talks about how “your body is the biggest asset you have” Grace won’t go along with them either.
She does get into drinking, but it’s shown in a couple of quick montage shots, and younger kids won’t even understand that what she’s drinking is alcohol.
In other words, she’s shown to be sinking, but we don’t spend a lot of time in her sinkhole. That makes Grace Unplugged less realistic than it might have been, but more appropriate for the young teen audience it is aimed at. The only sin we do see her committing a lot is her general disrespect for her father.
Language concerns are limited to a few instances of “gosh.”
Conclusion
This is a better than average Christian film, with decent production values (comparably to a Hallmark), and a musical star who can actually sing. I also really appreciated how they could tread into dark territory with care.
There’s even some subtly, the filmmaker repeatedly taking the time to show rather than simply tell his story. For example, at one point dad and daughter play a song together – It is well with my soul – that symbolizes Grace hasn’t left God behind. They play just the music and don’t sing the words, but the director knows his Christian audience will be familiar with the hymn, so he is content to leave it unnamed.
I would have loved to score it higher, but one problem with any prodigal story is in making the prodigal likable and that doesn’t really happen here. It isn’t an impossible task – we are the prodigal after all – but for too much of this film Grace Trey is too bratty to really root for. They needed to make her more relatable, because the whole “got a recording contract at a major label” isn’t something the rest of us have ever experienced.
What is relatable is the whole rebellious teen versus parent who manages to say the right thing exactly the wrong way time after time. That makes this a decently entertaining film that could also foster a good conversation or two with your own teens. I’d recommend it for 12 and up.
Check out the trailer below.
