To Save a Life (2009)

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Sadly Over-hyped

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

When my step-dad insisted that I watch this movie, at first I kind of internally groaned. I knew it was a Christian movie, and, while I am a Christian, I also respect a lot of film critics, and something I've definitely noticed a lot is that Christian movies always either tend to be so sheltering that they end up unrealistic, or the director goes off the deep end and it ends up too traumatizing to reach its target audience.I am very satisfied to say that to save a life did neither of those. It's so far the only Christian movie I've seen that actually felt like a professionally done film with a down to earth premise. The story is great, the antagonist is what I consider to be the second best written antagonist in any movie(best written being a tie between Kirie Fujou from "Kara no Kyoukai: Fuukan Fukei" and the Joker from "The Dark Knight"), and it's the best Christian film I've seen. I even consider it to be among my favorite movies in general, though it is very different in tone from what I usually watch.There is one plot point that seems kind of forced, but I'm willing to overlook that, due to this being the first Christian film I've seen that didn't pander to its target demographic or go off of the deep end, and because of my liking for the movie as a whole.If you haven't seen it, I recommend it. It's the best Christian movie available because it's the first one that actually knows how to be a movie, and everyone involved did a great job.

I recently watched this at a church. I couldn't believe it when people were standing up and clapping when the credits rolled.This is a movie with plot lines about high school age kids you've heard before, only with messages about religion and faith. It's one of those movies that tries to be real but misses and becomes stereotypical and sappy rather than interesting. Jake, the varsity jock has it all: a hot girlfriend, cool friends, team captain, but what a twist, there's something missing from his life! And the movie becomes centered around bringing people together through religion. The whole scenario of Jake's old friend going to school and killing himself while there was gimmicky, but it could have been redeemed with some real exploration about what really causes these feelings of isolation. What the plot focuses on is bring people together through faith, but the way it's carried out is not realistic and feels preachy: as if all these kids in this movie should come together under one faith and this particular faith is what people are missing from their lives. I did not believe these characters or their dialog, they don't act like real people, and these moral messages about faith and Christianity are too propaganda ridden and unconvincing. I think movies like this are meant to grab people who are agnostic as means of showing them how important faith is to life, but I don't this movie remotely does the job. In short, I do not recommend this to anyone.

I've read degrading reviews of this movie, calling it "propaganda", in relation to how it's Christian. Whoo-de-doo. I've seen Christian movies that weren't worth the budget money, let alone making. This isn't one of them. It's independently filmed by a ministry, it has heavy themes of hope, but not of religion, as one of the characters says. It shows how teens are today, argumentative, backstabbing, hard-partying, even some hypocritical religious people. But it also shows people willing to help others in spite of their faults (or, rather, because of them). You have your popular kids and your "losers" that have social awkwardness and people tricking them into humiliating situations, and shows aftermaths of the effects. A person committing suicide and shows why he did it in the first place and the aftermath effect that has on someone else to make a difference. It may be propaganda to some, but it seems like a milestone in thought-provoking Christian movie-making to people like me. Flawed, like the characters, but impacting, like its characters.

Well, let's just start out by saying I AM a Catholic and a VERY sharp critic of Christian movies. I've seen many of them and the majority of them are lacking, and I realize that. When the general public hears the two dreaded words "Christian Movie", they immediately think Low-Budget, Low Production quality, abysmal acting, laughable special effects, so on and so forth. And honestly, could you blame them? Most Christian made films are because the makers of the film are more interested in preaching than entertaining and telling a story. Facing the Giants is blatantly guilty of that offense as well as the Left Behind series. Then "The Passion of the Christ" was made and it was a spark of hope for us Christians. And "Bella", which could be considered not Christian but let's go ahead and throw it in. And some others were lukewarm at best. And then came "To Save a Life".....Welcome to the new world of Christian-made movies, folks! We have arrived to the 21st Century and are here to stay! Why is this film so good you ask? Superb acting, fantastic cinematography, good, strong storyline, upbeat, steady soundtrack to just name a few things this movie does to break the mold. But the best part about this movie, by a long shot is, the filmmakers found that delicate balance between preaching and entertaining. The Christian-Jesus element is there and you can't miss it, but it is NOT the overriding theme of the movie. Your Christian and Atheistic teens will both love this movie because it's message is deeper than church walls and pulpits. It deals with human emotion, with the day-to-day struggles and anxieties every teenager faces and it shows us that all is not well with the generations following us. "To save a life" is real life, and that's something teens never see on MTV or Teen Nick.The story centers around a High School senior named Jake Taylor who is the All-American teen archetype, good athlete, kind of quiet, has a beautiful girlfriend named Amy, plans to go to a good college, lots of friends and is no stranger to having a good time. But a terrifying event changes his life and awakens his conscience and he is forced to make some very tough decisions. He decides to change his current lifestyle, reevaluate what he values most in his life and meets Jonny, an introverted, tormented soul who has given up on life and hope. Can Jake find the inner strength and put everything on the line in his life, to save Jonny's? Every possible choice, idea and issue teens face every day is portrayed in this movie with brutal honest and passion. On facebook and twitter the stories of teens which this movie has saved is too many to count and they are truly the true reviewers of this movie because this is their life. We just try to give our impute but, if you're reading this and are wondering if you should watch this movie, find a teen who has seen this movie and ask them. Trust their word more than mine. With twists and turns at every corner and an ending you won't expect, "To save a life" will have you and your teen child asking the question, "What would I do to save a life?"