To Save a Life
Theatrical film with curriculum
New Song Pictures, 2009
www.how2savealife.com

Jake is cute and sexy. He’s class president, MVP of the basketball team, and he’s dating a beautiful babe. The only thing missing is Jesus. This well-produced but predictable evangelistic film for teens leaves no doubt that Jake will become a Christian by the time the closing credits roll.

To Save a Life is beautifully filmed and has a great soundtrack, thanks to music supervisor Charlie Peacock. It features talented actors, such as Randy Wayne (“The Dukes of Hazard”), Deja Kreutzberg (“CSI: Miami,” “Law and Order”) and Kim Hidalgo (“Scrubs”). Director Brian Baugh (The Ultimate Gift) has a sure, steady hand.

Though the film realistically portrays the temptations teens face regarding sex, drugs and drinking, its story and characters remain mired in Christian clichés. Chris, the youth worker, seems to have all the time in the world to dote on Jake. Roger, the movie’s African-American character (for added outsider status, he has a limp!), seems like a dusty relic from a pre-Obama era.

The movie has a big heart. Jake and Roger are childhood friends; when Roger self-destructs, Jake is inspired to reach out to other unhappy kids who don’t fit in with their peers.

If you don’t see any inconsistency with beauty pageant contestants who sideline by speaking to kids about inner beauty, then you probably won’t have any problems with insider Jake’s outreach to outsiders.

Youth workers who want their kids (and perhaps their friends) to see a well-done, evangelistic film will appreciate To Save a Life; but those who hold Christian movies to the same standards as mainstream films may be disappointed even if they are moved. (The movie’s companion curriculum was not made available for review.)