Pamela's Prayer (1998)

How sad is this?

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

This movie illustrates God's way of bringing faith-filled believers in Christ together in relationship. It is true, God's ways of bringing a couple together work and those ways are higher than our ways. I know true believing people who were obedient to The Lord and were brought together by God in unique and exquisite ways only our Creator can do.

This is a prime example of an enjoyably bad movie; one whilst failing completely at its primary purpose of transporting the viewer with skill, talent and the 'magic of the movies', nevertheless succeeds by entertaining via sheer vigorous ineptitude. The other reviews here relate exhaustively most of what ails 'Pamela's Prayer', so I'll just make a few additional observations.-Rick Scheideman's performance as Pamela Bucklin's steadfastly Bronze-Age dad Wayne is worth noting as a contender for one of the ten creepiest fathers in cinema history. Even forgetting Wayne Bucklin's jaw-dropping 'Old Testament' values and possessive-obsessive behaviour re daughter Pamela, his psycho pinned-pupil stoned stare and skin-crawlingly quiet, measured tone of voice (neither of which he deviates from throughout) will send chills down your backbone. It is as though he were constantly keeping up an artificially calm appearance whilst stifling the seething cauldron of inhuman rage inside. Quite seriously, if you'd begun watching 'Pamela's Prayer' without being told it was a 'Christian movie', you could be forgiven for assuming that the palpably sinister father would soon begin eliminating permanently any hapless kid unfortunate enough to fall for his Pamela. It is a pity that Scheideman only appeared in this one movie, because on the strength of 'Pamela's Prayer' he could easily have carved out a long career in horror. They could have had a 'Wayne Bucklin' franchise.-Yes, the acting is pretty bad, but even the best actors would have trouble with a script which seeks to trumpet Taliban-like family relationships which border upon child abuse. The father has never missed an evening praying at his daughter's bedside until she's almost a teenager? She's gone through childhood with no school camps, no sleepovers, no nothing except Daddy? He lost his wife, and apparently his mind, too. He also seems to have no friends. This movie is just crying out to be remade as a horror.-Also note that the wardrobe department have decided to clothe Pamela in the least sexy garb possible; all bulky jackets and baggy trousers. In addition, notice that the only boys who are interested in Pamela seem remarkably less-than-macho. Why so? In any case, Pamela's eventual beau gets her overbearingly Patriarchal dad's approval, possibly because Fredric exhibits an eerily calm demeanour and creepy stoned stare similar to his own. And they both work in a film library. In 1990. Ever heard of 'videotape', guys? It's really catching on.-Oh, and in case you're squeamish about lip-contact (which this movie seems to regard as the first step on the Stairway to Hell), you will be relieved to learn that the movie cuts away just before the happy couple actually perform that first kiss as newlyweds. So you won't need to hide your eyes. Guess to where -or rather to whom- it cuts?

Corny yet sweet. I totally understand their message of no sex before marriage but I think the "no kissing" idea and that the first kiss is going to be a gift for your husband on your wedding night- I think thats a little too ridiculous and 99% of the kids of today are not going to follow that. They might even miss the whole message of the movie because they view that statement as absurd. It also has no biblical merit or passage that I know of where you cant kiss or date. It sounds like a man-made idea/rule. I think when Pamela asked: "how do I meet my future husband if I cant date" -was a very realistic question. She also asked her dad to give her a passage from the bible that forbid dating. I don't think dad had any ammunition in that argument. He pretty much gave her a "because I'm your father" kind of an answer. She was right in her question and I think most kids watching that film would shake their head at the absurdity that you cant date your future spouse. It struck me as odd that she couldn't go to a basketball game with her friends and that guy- as a group- but yet it was OK with her dad for her to leave with his employee and go to the wilderness to look at rock formations all by themselves. Think about it, she had more chance of getting laid out there in the wilderness, with just he and her there, than she did by going to a basketball game with her friends and a guy and a huge crowd..... That rock formation scene really contradicted the whole theme of the movie, no dating, no boys. Remember when she asked if they could go to the ball game as friends and he shot her this look like "Uh No!!" you cant do that either. Yet she goes off alone with this guy to look at rocks. I found it odd that dad always talked in this preacher voice. What dad talks like that all the time? It seemed this movie had the right intentions but should have showed an alternative to being told no and then going upstairs where she is now sad and alone. I think if the writers would have inserted some alternative for her such as having friends over or getting together at Christian events it would have portrayed a better picture than a sad, bored, girl whose Christian beliefs have prevented her from having any type of fun and here she sits lonely on her bed sad and depressed. It paints the Chrisitan life as one of loneliness. This movie looked like it was from the 1980's. The guys hair styles were dead-on to the hairstyles of 1986. Even the production credits looked "old timey" I wonder if this movie was made in the 80's but not released until 1998?Lastly I think they could have left out the line that the dad said "Do you know what a Christian Film Library is"? I laughed out loud at the absurdity of that sentence. Its like asking "do you know how a boiled egg is cooked"?I think its the corny, cheesy, lines like this that turn people away from watching more Christian films. Most people view Christian films as lame and lacking in the writing with no suspense or drama. I think a lot people are hungry for a Christian movie but yet are bored with the lameness and blandness of Christian movies like this. Nothing against the Christian message, I just mean Christian films could be more intelligently written to appeal to the youth that are growing up in the 21st century. This isn't Amish country 1930. We can pretty much understand what a Christian Film Library is there's no need to ask if we know what it means. By the way I am a Christian so I am not trying to demean the message, just commenting on the way it was presented and how it was missing the mark in some ways.

I don't doubt that this film appeals to a Christian audience, but even for a Christian film, it's idealistic and naive.However, it makes for great riff-fodder. This film has taught us a number of things:1) A guy only needs to say "Prove you love me" to get a Christian chick in the sack 2) Dating is the gateway to all evil...until you graduate. 3) Why have your own social activities, when you can benefit from the social network of your father's workplace? 4) You can't forget to pray with your father before you have sex on your wedding night...you just can't. 5) Always ask for the promotion BEFORE you ask if you can drive your boss's daughter to a remote area out of nowhere, right after she's hit the big 1-8