FINALLY, a film that addresses Christianity without being too concerned with neatness to depict real life! Blue Like Jazz is a film about me, you, and everyone else who lives in the real world. A world where the message is not always so single layered, and solutions are not so cookie cutter perfect. It represents the Christian message well, but doesn?t get so tangled up in delivering a clean and picture-perfect message that it forgets to tell a story that is still true to life. Instead it deals with raw human emotion, which is hardly ever neat and tidy. Don struggles with things that people really struggle with. He has doubts that people like me and you really have; and he has to find his way through the external religion of Christianity to the power of a personal relationship with Christ, just like all believers have had to do. This film is going to create a new kind of discussion about faith, and one that I think is necessary.

A movie about the "other side of Sunday". A provocative and edgy poking at religion. (the underside of Sunday). Questioning what happens to my religion when I go to work, school, culture (the Monday side of Sunday). Asking what more was there than my fun? (the Saturday side of Sunday). And perhaps a peak at (the upside of Sunday). Guarantee you will have lots to talk about and... resolve...

It is very refreshing to see a film that is true to life. I cannot imagine someone not being able to relate to one of the characters or the diverse situation they find themselves in. Each character was well developed and I wanted more!! I wanted to hang out with Lauren, be apart of Civil Disobedience with Penny and weld a tall bike with Don. BLJ is a great film for teens and adults, leaves you with plenty to think about and a desire to be true to yourself.

Does the reality of God really make a difference in my life? Can I follow Jesus and not have it all figured out? Is Christianity a journey or a destination? Donald Miller?s provocative style in exploring faith, Jesus, and the Church is raw, real, and still so needed. The book behind this movie was instrumental in creating a new culture within the church. The movie gives voice to ten of thousands of spiritually bi-polar Christians who were tired of living two separate lives- church and the rest of life. Many young people want to be true to their faith and true to Christ, but they don?t have it all together. Nor do they want to if that means conformity to the religious Christian sub-culture. Life, cfamilies, relationships, and even faith are messy sometimes and we find out selves in places we never intended, yet,Â… we did. Thankfully, God still pursues us in our unloveliness, pride, and selfishness. The movie explores this and you will come away wanting to talk about this movie.

A friend gave me the NY Times best-selling book that the movie was based on a few years ago, which was a life-line for me during a dark time. So I was more than bit concerned that they took too many liberties while making this movie. Still, I dragged friends across the Bay Bridge to see it. They literally laughed and cried and said they liked the movie as the credits rolled, no, they LOVED it! I loved it too. Blue Like Jazz is true to the spirit of the book and is its own poetic, cinematic masterpiece. The music, acting, directing, and screenplay all came together . . . like jazz. Whether you have faith, are struggling with faith, or have no faith at all; Blue Like Jazz will entertain and make you think (in a good way).