No Greater Love (2010)

I saw this movie before reading any reviews, and I thought it was very funny. I was very surprised to see the overwhelmingly negative reviews this film received from critics.

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Among the previous reviewers of No Greater Love there must not have been any classic movie fans. If so they would have immediately recognized the plot My Favorite Wife here. The only difference is that in the period of separation of wife Danielle Bisutti instead of her spending time with someone like Randolph Scott on a desert island Bisutti descends into the depths of degradation before finding religion.Bisutti is the Irene Dunne character and the Cary Grant character is Anthony Tyler Quinn. He's a workaholic husband with little time for wife and kid who grows up to be Aaron Sanders. She's been gone for ten years and he's thinking his son needs a mom. Work associate Alexis Boozer Sterling might fill the bill and he proposes.But in those mysterious ways Sanders finds Bisutti at some church youth group, her act all cleaned up and soon enough Quinn does as well. The problem now is that Quinn is not a believer.Cary Grant and Irene Dunne seemed to work it out without reference to religion. But as this is a Christian film it has to follow certain parameters.Nevertheless this one is not overtly preachy and it's entertaining and I love happy endings.

I normally love Christian films, and overall, I liked the plot in this - but the script does have some faults. First, Jeff KNEW he had never signed the divorce papers, so legally he was still married... yet he is getting ready to PROPOSE to another lady?! Seriously?? Next, the reasoning behind Heather not wanting to move back in with Jeff is a bit twisted. She should've just expressed concern about the fact that she is now a Christian and he is not. Instead they use the excuse that she shouldn't marry a non-believer, according to the Bible.However, the reason most Christians don't believe in divorce and remarriage is because when we marry, we make our vows before God, so even if we divorce, in the eyes of God, we are STILL married. Since they were previously married, they were technically STILL married, divorce papers or not. I can't imagine ANY Christian pastor not encouraging a couple to restore their marriage. It wasn't like she was wanting to marry someone ELSE. Even if Jeff HAD signed the divorce papers, he was STILL her husband in God's eyes. The movie has this part of the plot completely twisted and perverted, in my opinion!! Lastly, throughout the movie, it shows Jeff's faults, of always putting work before family. But there is nothing at the end to show he really changes from this behavior. He does tell her, "I want what you have," but if I'd written the story, I would've had Jeff eventually coming to church with her, and finally make an open profession to accept Jesus. The acting was good, and I'm giving it an 8 simply because I was glad for a story about a restored marriage, instead of the usual "forget the ex, find someone new" story line we usually see.

I ordered this film online from my public library, without knowing too much about it. Once I got it and I read the DVD jacket, and saw that it was a Christian film, I was hesitant about watching it. I decided to do so and I was pleasantly surprised. The film was very entertaining with a good plot line and good acting all-around. It has a wholesome message about faith, marriage, friendship, forgiveness and life in general. To me, the film was a little "preachy" but I learned something from it and I enjoyed watching it. To tell you the truth, I have no idea why I ordered this film, since I had not heard anything about it and it was not reviewed in my hometown newspapers. Maybe it was meant to be.

Straight to DVD is usually done for films studios don't think will make it in the theater and so they dump it off (like some of Disney's animated sequels). However, in this case, the strategy was to involve people who already were searching for a good romance story (not the usual sex comedy that gets called a romance story these days) and also people of faith who would like to show it in groups as well as own a copy themselves and used outlets such as people connector websites, etc. to get buzz going and then released it so people could get it via retailers (like Wal- Mart, Target, etc )and online providers (Amazon.com,etc. which had it as number 1 in both family films and Christian films in terms of sales).It's not the typical 'hit you over the head' type 'message' film that we've seen so many of or the ones where the actors could barely pass for low budget TV actors. This was a well thought out and directed story. In the opinion of a friend who repaired film projectors both military and private for a living and thus has also gotten to watch a lot of films, quite possibly the best made film by Christians that even non- believers will see and not be turned off in the first 10 minutes. Give it a watch. I rated it maybe higher than I would just because the early voting (if you can call 15 votes voting) seemed to only be the pessimistic. Those that watched it and enjoyed it have families with kids and have more to do that write reviews for online sites. I hope many will get to it soon so that even more will seek it out.