Jesus Revolution

Jesus Revolution is a 2023 American Christian drama film directed by Jon Erwin and Brent McCorkle. Based on the book of the same name, the film follows youth minister Greg Laurie (Joel Courtney), Christian hippie Lonnie Frisbee (Jonathan Roumie), and pastor Chuck Smith (Kelsey Grammer) as they take part in the Jesus movement in California during the late 1960s. Anna Grace Barlow and Kimberly Williams-Paisley also star. The film was theatrically released in the United States on February 24, 2023, by Lionsgate. The film received mixed reviews from critics but was well-received by audiences, and has grossed $51.3 million.

Jesus Revolution
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Screenplay by
Based onJesus Revolution
by Greg Laurie
Ellen Santilli Vaughn
Produced by
  • Kevin Downes
  • Jon Erwin
  • Andrew Erwin
  • Daryl Lefever
  • Josh Walsh
  • Jerilyn Esquibel
  • Katelyn Botsch
  • Bekah Hubbell
Starring
CinematographyAkis Konstantakopoulos
Edited byJohn Pucket
Music byBrent McCorkle
Production
company
Distributed byLionsgate
Release dates
  • February 15, 2023 (2023-02-15) (TCL Chinese Theatre)
  • February 24, 2023 (2023-02-24) (United States)
Running time
120 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$15 million[1]
Box office$51.3 million[2][3]

Plot

In 1968, a staid yet respected Southern California pastor, Chuck Smith, finds that his church is slowly dying with an inability to connect with the younger, live-free generation of hippies. One day, his daughter, Janette, gives a ride to a colorful hippie hitchhiker named Lonnie Frisbee, who says he is traveling around and telling people about the Ministry of Jesus. Smith, at first suspicious of Frisbee, eventually warms up to him and welcomes other hippies to his house. This includes Lonnie introducing Chuck to a band called Love Song, who proceed to perform a song in his living room. They join forces and start a successful movement to evangelize hippies and others.

Meanwhile, high-school student Greg Laurie runs away from his Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps class and joins a girl named Cathe who "turns him on" to a Janis Joplin concert, with Timothy Leary preaching the value of drugs for self-discovery. However, Greg sees that various hippies are dangerously irresponsible; Cathe's sister gets sick from a drug overdose. When watching a movie, Cathe gets angry at Greg for not caring about how dangerous drugs are and breaks their friendship.

At the hippie campus, Cathe is listening to Lonnie preach; Greg then comes over and they reconcile, ending with Cathe telling him she found a church and he should come visit. Greg and Cathe find solace at Smith and Frisbee's ministry, though Cathe's uptight parents are not enthusiastic about Greg.

The ministry explodes in popularity, being seen as a "Jesus Revolution" or "Jesus freaks", and even sparking a Time magazine cover in 1971.[4] However, Lonnie eventually leaves for Florida after having disagreements with Chuck Smith. Greg offers to take over a ministry branch in Riverside, and eventually marries Cathe and becomes a famous pastor himself. Smith and Frisbee are remembered as founders of the widespread Calvary Chapel movement, and more generally as leaders in the Jesus movement.

Cast

Production

The film was announced in June 2018, with Jon Erwin and Jon Gunn writing the screenplay, Gunn directing, and Greg Laurie, Kevin Downes, and the Erwin Brothers producing. Jim Gaffigan and Joel Courtney signed on in the lead roles in June 2020, although Kelsey Grammer eventually replaced Gaffigan.[11] Filming occurred in Mobile, Alabama in March 2022, with several other scenes being shot on-location in California.[12][13]

Release
Jesus Revolution playing at the Noyo Theatre in Willits, California.

The film had its premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on February 15, 2023,[14] and was theatrically released in the United States on February 24, 2023, by Lionsgate.[15] The film is set for international release starting in Singapore on March 23 2023, with Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, and others set for the subsequent months.[16]

Box office

In the United States and Canada, Jesus Revolution was released alongside Cocaine Bear, and was initially projected to gross $6–7 million from 2,475 theaters in its opening weekend.[17] The film made $7 million on its first day (including $3.3 million from previews from the days leading up to its release), raising weekend estimates to $14 million. It went on to debut with $15.8 million, finishing in third place.[1] In its second weekend it made $8.7 million, continuing to outperform expectations,[18] finishing in fifth place.[19] In its third and fourth weekends the film made $5.1 million and $3.5 million, respectively.[20][21]

Critical response

The film received mixed reviews from critics, but was positively received by audiences.[22][23] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 62% of 47 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The website's consensus reads, "Jesus Revolution fumbles an opportunity to bring fascinating real-life history vibrantly to life, but deserves credit for avoiding the preachiness common to faith-based films."[24] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 46 out of 100, based on seven critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[25] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A+", giving director Jon Erwin the most films to earn the grade (following 2015's Woodlawn, 2018's I Can Only Imagine and 2021's American Underdog).[26] Those polled by PostTrak gave it a 97% positive score, with 89% saying they would definitely recommend the film.[1]

Joshua Encinias of MovieMaker attributed its positive reception among audiences to "high production values and a storyline that works even if you don’t care about Christianity."[27] Rahul Malhotra and Simbiat Ayoola of Collider noted that Christian media is an "underserved audience", that "the production company did its due diligence to create buzz", and "despite mixed critical reviews, Jesus Revolution has proven to be rather popular with its target demographic."[28][18]

Dennis Harvey of Variety gave the film a positive review, saying the film is "polished and persuasive without getting too preachy."[29] In another review, James Berardinelli said that "Jesus Revolution takes a fascinating period of American history – the hippie movement and its associated fallout within the Christian community – and transforms it into a bland, TV movie-of-the-week experience."[30] Film Threat writer Alan Ng gave the film an 8/10, saying, "I associate three things with faith-based films: bad acting, an outrageous, overly positive message, and a shoe-horned sermon. Thankfully, this film avoids all three elements."[31] Nell Minow of RogerEbert.com gave the film 2 stars, pointing out that the film skips details like one of its real-life characters' substance abuse and homosexuality, and quoted Jack Kornfield saying "after the ecstasy comes the laundry."[32] Kathy Schiffer of the National Catholic Register noted, "If you're old enough to remember the 1960s and '70s, you'll find Lionsgate's upbeat new film Jesus Revolution to be a walk down memory lane... As a mainstream Christian film, it focuses on a feel-good faith message, which is more than welcome amid today's culture."[33]

References
  1. D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 25, 2023). "'Quantumania' Worst Drop For A Marvel Movie, 'Cocaine Bear' Very High On $21M & 'Jesus Revolution' Praises $14M+ – Saturday Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
  2. "Jesus Revolution (2023)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  3. "Jesus Revolution (2023)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  4. "TIME Magazine Cover: The Jesus Revolution - June 21, 1971". TIME.com. June 21, 1971. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  5. Ortega Law, Jeannie (February 28, 2022). "Emmy-winning actor Kelsey Grammer to portray Pastor Chuck Smith in 'Jesus Revolution' film". The Christian Post. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
  6. Duffy, Thomas (February 24, 2023). "Film Review: JESUS REVOLUTION (2023): Kelsey Grammer and Jonathan Roumie are Superb in Overlong but Interesting Christian Film". FilmBook. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
  7. Fleming, Mike Jr. (February 18, 2022). "Kelsey Grammer Joins Lionsgate's 'Jesus Revolution'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
  8. Dick, Jeremy (February 19, 2022). "Kelsey Grammer to Play a 1970s Pastor in Lionsgate's Jesus Revolution". MovieWeb. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
  9. Grobar, Matt (May 12, 2022). "Producer DeVon Franklin Steps In Front Of The Camera For Lionsgate & Kingdom Story Company's 'Jesus Revolution'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  10. Taylor, Savannah (February 27, 2023). "DeVon Franklin Speaks About Portraying a Black Journalist in 'Jesus Revolution'". Ebony. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  11. N’Duka, Amanda (June 26, 2020). "Jim Gaffigan, Joel Courtney To Star In 'Jesus Revolution' For Lionsgate & 'I Still Believe' Producers". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  12. Lane, Keith (March 25, 2022). "Kelsey Grammer movie being filmed in Mobile seeks extras for big church scene". WPMI-TV. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
  13. Specker, Lawrence (March 20, 2022). "'The Jesus Revolution:' Director discusses project being filmed in Mobile". Al.com. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
  14. Kopaloff, Jon. "Joel Courtney attends Jesus Revolution Los Angeles Premiere". Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  15. D'Alessandro, Anthony (June 15, 2022). "'Dirty Dancing' Sequel Sets 2024 Release; 'Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret' Heads To Pre-Summer 2023". Deadline. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  16. "Jesus Revolution ~ International Release". Jesus Revolution. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  17. Rubin, Rebecca (February 21, 2023). "Box Office: 'Cocaine Bear' Takes on Marvel's 'Quantumania,' Aims for $15 Million-Plus Debut". Variety. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  18. Ayoola, Simbiat (March 5, 2023). "'Jesus Revolution' Passes $30 Million at Domestic Box Office". Collider. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
  19. D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 5, 2023). "MGM's 'Creed III' $58M+ Franchise Record Opening A Gamechanger For Amazon Studios – Sunday Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  20. D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 12, 2023). "'Scream VI' Even Louder With $44M+ Franchise Opening Record, 'Creed III' Punching $101M+ - Sunday Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  21. D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 19, 2023). "'Shazam! Fury Of The Gods' Doesn't Fly With Moviegoers At $30M Opening: Here's Why – Sunday Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
  22. Dick, Jeremy (February 25, 2023). "Jesus Revolution Gets Big Love from Filmgoers Despite Rotten Reviews". MovieWeb. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  23. Lanum, Nikolas (February 28, 2023). "'Jesus Revolution' performs miracles at the box office, receives rave reviews from audience". MSN. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  24. "Jesus Revolution". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  25. "Jesus Revolution Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  26. Foust, Michael. "Christian Filmmaker Jon Erwin Makes History, Becomes 1st Director to Receive Four A+ CinemaScores". Christian Headlines.
  27. Encinias, Joshua (March 6, 2023). "Jesus Revolution Is a Surprise Christian Hit That Takes Lessons From Blumhouse". MovieMaker. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  28. Mahotra, Rahul (February 26, 2023). "'Jesus Revolution' Overperforms With $15.5 Million in Domestic Box Office Debut". Collider. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  29. Harvey, Dennis (February 23, 2023). "'Jesus Revolution' Review: Solid Faith-Based Movie Remembers Time When Christians Welcomed Longhairs Into the Flock". Variety. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
  30. Berardinelli, James (February 22, 2023). "Jesus Revolution". Reelviews Movie Reviews. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  31. Ng, Alan (February 23, 2023). "Jesus Revolution". Film Threat. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
  32. Minow, Nell (February 24, 2023). "Jesus Revolution movie review". rogerebert.com. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  33. Schiffer, Kathy (February 23, 2023). "'Jesus Revolution' Is a Christian Ride Through the '70s". National Catholic Register. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
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