I Still Believe is the latest Christian music biopic to gain a wide theatrical release. Telling the story of Christian music superstar Jeremy Camp has been a long time coming. Riverdale star K.J. Apa plays Camp as your typical hero figure. He’s a sensitive college kid trying to do right by himself. His father helps kick off his musical journey, while his little brother just wants a friend. Everything is all lovey until it isn’t.
The Erwin Brothers helm this latest Christian mega release after their prior success on Woodlawn, October Baby and I Can Only Imagine. Apparently, they’ve got a Kurt Warner biopic in the pipeline. I should check that out, as football tends to skew closer to my wheelhouse than Christian rock. Yet, I found myself drawn to the material with very little knowledge of Jeremy Camp before this release.
My lack of knowledge didn’t matter, as the acting is quite amazing for this kind of film. Stunning supporting turns from Gary Sinise and Shania Twain litter the movie. The Dixie Chicks and Shania Twain are back in the pop culture in a single week. All is good in the world. I don’t mean to get distracted talking about late 90s girl power country, but we need to celebrate all of the good we can find.
When looking into what happened to the real Melissa Henning, I was floored. This young lady knew she was dying when she met Jeremy Camp, yet allowed herself to grow and love. The movie deals with living outside of fear, which might be lost on most people. But, those who can get it…well, it’s going to blow their little minds out the back of their heads.
In a time when theaters are losing out against real world threats, we need I Still Believe. Adults require mature yet clean stories about things that matter. What matters more than the love between young people living and growing in roles that seem to have gone abandoned by modern culture?
Time is on no one’s side, but you can meet anything head-on with courage. That’s the grand takeaway from I Still Believe. You don’t need to be a Jeremy Camp superfan or dig romantic movies. You just need to understand the base nature of human resilience. So, head out to theaters and give it a shot.
I mean, I Still Believe might be one of the last new releases we get in awhile.
I Still Believe is in theaters now!
