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Higher Movies: The Pursuit of Happiness

2006-12-18T21:24:03-07:00

The Pursuit of Happiness is the new emotional drama sweeping the box office. Starring Will Smith and his son Jaden, the two actors play a father-son duo who undergo trying times in San Francisco. The story, based on real- life, starts with Will Smith’s character, Chris Gardner, trying to sell bone density scanners. Gardner has little luck though, and after having invested his life savings in the business, he soon finds himself short of money, but not short of bills.

Tragedy for Gardner doesn’t stop there. His wife leaves him, he’s arrested for outstanding parking tickets, and eventually he is evicted from his home. All of these trials seem to land at Gardner’s doorstep right as he takes on a non-paying internship at a stock brokerage company. This could be the opportunity of a lifetime for Gardner - if he can prove himself among the 20 other competing interns.

It seems like a slippery slope for Gardner, one thing after another seems to go wrong. The audience wonders if anything else could possibly go wrong, and if things will ever change before the credits roll. No matter what Gardner does, things just get worse. Gardner seems like a good guy too, taking care of his son and doing everything he can to provide a better life growing up then he had. So why doesn’t any of it seem to work?

I have to admit going in I was biased. I’ve been a long-time fan of Will Smith, collecting every album he’s made (including the ones with DJ Jazzy Jeff!) and I own almost every movie he’s appeared in (almost, because Six Degrees of Separation just isn’t my cup of tea). I was pretty sure I would like his latest role, especially since it included his son. However, not even my highest of expectation would prepare me for how emotionally draining this movie was! The night before its release David Letterman while interviewing with Will Smith said that watching it he felt, "...like his stomach was pulled up through his nose.” While not as poetic as Smith would have liked, Letterman did convey how absolutely heartbreaking this story is.

Many will recognize this story, though. The righteous man who does everything the way he should, only to find everything taken away from him in the blink of an eye. At what point does he man give up? Can he redeem himself? The eyes of faith have seen this story far too many times to count. Thankfully, the eyes of faith also recognize that Gardner’s repeated failures are a simple sign of how much he is in the hands of God.

Even when Gardner seems to do everything right, someone steals his expensive bone-density machine. Or if he’s lucky enough to get it back, it just so happens to be broken. When push comes to shove, Gardner finds himself sitting in a church pew, holding his son with nothing left in the world but the clothes on his back, a broken bone density machine and a spare suit. Even then he is no fool, realizing those things might not be around much longer either!

Faith doesn’t give up simply because the world has. The world would have us do that, and forsake everything simply to stoop to its level. Faith overcomes the world's messages, and knows that even when all seems to go awry, the Lord is in control. If the Lord so desires that tomorrow Chris Gardner were to become a multi-millionaire stock broker, He’d put that into play! The most we can do is live with what the Lord deals us. Gardner does just that, and his pursuit of happiness isn’t dictated by the goods he accumulates, but by the fact that he has one more day to give it another shot. Anything can happen in a day, and if the Lord wants to turn the table - He’s going to do it!

The eyes of faith know the story in The Pursuit of Happiness all too well. Bad things happens with no apparent rhyme or reason. The world will find this movie absolutely astonishing and will struggle to understand how or why a man, all alone in the world, would go on one more day to see what might be in store for him. That’s troubling to the world! The eyes of faith, though, realize this is just another day lived in the Gospel of Jesus Christ - where the Lord is in control.

All in all, The Pursuit of Happiness makes for a good movie, and probably the best $7.00 I spent this week. You will feel your emotions tugged on, but you won’t be surprised by the story. Aside from that, it’s Will Smith - so you just have to go. ;)

Stan Lemon is the beloved webmaster of the Higher Things Website. He and his wife, Deaconess Sara Lemon, live in marital bliss in the Internet Services Bunker in Cabot, PA. He also owns every Will Smith movie and album except one.

Higher Movies: The Nativity Story

2006-12-05T20:08:50-07:00

The Nativity Story actually begins in the liturgical season of Christmas, with the Slaughter of the Innocents. Roman soldiers descending upon a small town in the middle of the night, breaking down doors and yanking sleeping baby boys out of their screaming mothers' arms to slaughter them in the streets makes for a great dramatic lead-in which can't help but to draw the average viewer into the story.

Just as the soldiers leave town with a trail of small, dead bodies behind them and the heartbreaking wails set in, the viewer is taken a year back in time, to watch the unfolding the story leading up to that event - to Jerusalem, to the Temple, where Zachariah is carrying out his priestly duties in the Holy of Holies and, there, is given the promise of his son's birth. John will be the Prophet who heralds the arrival of the Messiah.

As promised, the location, sets, and costuming are breathtaking in detail. The score incorporates historic Advent and Christmas tunes, opening with a men's choir singing Veni Emmanuel and closing with Mary saying the words of the Magnificat as she and Joseph escape to Egypt with Stille Nacht being sung in the background.

The characters reveal depth and authenticity. Mary is thoughtful and humble, Joseph is a quiet and honorable man, Elizabeth overflows with joyful faithfulness, Herod is cruel and paranoid, and the Magi are wealthy intellectuals who provide light comic relief. Gabriel's appearance wasn't quite as masculine as one might expect, and it was disappointing not to see the heavenly host or hear their singing Gloria in Excelsis Deo at the announcement to the shepherds. But if that's all there is to really critique in this potentially controversial movie, that's not a big deal at all.

When the media started saying that this movie would have a Christian message that unites rather than divides like The Passion of the Christ, many Christians began to worry that their faith would once again be perverted as in the recent DaVinci Code. That sort of favorable commentary from reporters is usually a sign that the script has been stripped of any distinctly Christian message of the Gospel and instead substitutes pop-spirituality in the place of historic theology for mass-appeal. The Nativity Story did none of that. Fortunately, most of the theological commentary has been relegated to the supplementary materials that are available for groups and churches to deepen the audience's experience.

The movie stayed true to the Biblical accounts of Christ's advent and birth. There were even hints of the Gospel revealed in the movie - stating quite plainly that the Child would save His people from their sins, and that He is God made into flesh.

That's not the sort of message you hear at the movies today. Go see The Nativity Story, it's well worth the price of admission.

Mrs. Sandra Ostapowich, a.k.a. "Madre," is the Secretary of Higher Things and the Conference Chair of the Minneapolis "FOR YOU" conference. In this picture she's holding "Fernando," her youth group's pet salamander.

Higher Movies: "Dead Man's Chest"

2006-07-08T13:44:32-06:00

If you're one of those people that hate cliffhanger endings, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is not the movie for you. Just wait until the DVD comes out to watch it.

That said, I had my suspicions about the end of this movie because they filmed both PotC 2 and 3 at the same time. I figured they would both have something to do with each other. Overall, though, I’d say it was a pretty good movie.

But, don't read this if you don't want to read a bunch of spoilers. ;)

The movie was pretty much like the first one. Lots of jokes, some slapstick humor, and good-looking actors in pirate costumes. I thought that the jokes sometimes made the movie a little bit sillier than it had to be. But hey, it's a movie about pirates with Johnny Depp in it. Who cares?

It starts off with Will being arrested on his wedding for aiding Captain Sparrow (from the first movie), a well known condemned criminal and pirate. The penalty? Death. They soon afterwards arrest Elizabeth for committing the same crime. Captain Jack Sparrow still is on his Black Pearl, pirating across the ocean, without much luck hitting gold, it would seem. Instead, he's searching for the key to Davy Jones locker. Supposedly, if you can find the Dead Man's chest, you can capture and control the "devil himself." Apparently, Captain Sparrow has made a deal with Davy Jones in the past, that, if Captain Jack gets to be Captain for 13 years, then he’ll serve Davy Jones for eternity. Bootstrap Bill Turner shows up to remind Johnny of the debt he owes to Davy Jones in exchange for 13 years of captaining the Black Pearl.

In the mean time, Will must find Captain Sparrow’s compass and return to the island with it. In exchange for the compass, Will and Elizabeth will be pardoned. In this movie, we’re finally told why the compass never points north: it always points to what you desire most.

All of this leads to awesome pirate dueling, wisecracks, and the same fun from the last Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

Throughout the movie, the theme was that selfishness doesn't solve anything. Captain Sparrow wanted the Dead Man's Chest so that he could free himself. Will wanted to have the chest so that he could free himself and Elizabeth. Former Commodore Norrington wanted the chest so that he could reclaim his place among the British Navy.

Such selfishness doesn't get you anywhere among your friends or your enemies. In fact, selfishness is one of the "seven deadlies". It's a sin, and just like any other sin, it’ll get you condemned to a very hot place. Elizabeth tells Captain Jack that she believes there is good in him, and that in the end, he will do the right thing. So, in order to "redeem himself", Captain Jack Sparrow goes back to the Black Pearl as the crew that he abandoned tries to save themselves and the ship. But can he redeem himself? According to the movie, there’s no way to get out of an oath made with Davy Jones.

Thankfully for us, though, we do have someone who has already redeemed us. Jesus. You don't have to try to redeem yourself by killing a Beastie (sin), or by saving a ship. Jesus died for you. He took care of the devil for you and because of that, you’ll be in Heaven with Him some day. You don’t have to worry about the kraken of sin anymore. The debt’s paid in full.

Of course, this doesn't answer what happens to Will and Elizabeth. Is Will finally free of Elizabeth and single now? Will Johnny come back? Why the heck does what's-his-name want Davy Jones heart? Is Bootstrap ever going to be saved by his son? Will his barnacles go away? Isn't Barbosa supposed to be dead? WHAT THE IS GOING ON HERE!? If you’re still wondering about these questions like I am, it’s going to be a while before we find our answers.

In the mean time, rest in the knowledge that the most important questions, like where you're going to spend eternity and are you forgiven for your sins, are already answered. The answer is Jesus.

Anna Joy Holbird is an incoming freshman at Concordia University in Seward, NE. She serves as the Reflections Content Manager for Higher Things Internet Services. Check out her blog, Mostly Toomey & Eunice.

Superman Returns

2006-07-07T03:12:37-06:00

Every now and again, HT looks at a movie. We call this "Higher Movies." One of our bloggers, Nathan Fischer, wrote a review of Superman Returns. Nathan Fischer is a senior at Concordia University Wisconsin, studying Theological Languages and Philosophy. He also serves as a copy editor for the Higher Things Reflections. We'd love him to change his blog banner, but he won't listen to us. Check out Nathan's blog here.

Interested in writing a review for the Higher Things website? Perhaps something on the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie? Submit your review to here. Also, make sure you check out other B.A.M.B.I. topics.

Have fun and Happy Writing!

Rev. George F. Borghardt III
Internet Services Executive
Higher Things, Inc.

Not so Higher Movies...

2006-01-15T00:00:53-07:00

Got two...but they aren't very high.

Check our Sandra Ostapowich's review of RENT and Miss Erin Stephen's review of Richard and Jane.

Reading the reviews might be better than watching the movies on these (wink).