We're always looking for good, family-friendly movies to watch for a Saturday night movie night. Entertaining, yet wholesome movies can be hard to find nowadays. I love it when I'm offered the opportunity to review Christian films like "Ring The Bell."
Here's a little bit about the movie:
About Ring the Bell:
Ring The Bell shares the story of a slick, big city sports agent Rob Decker who seems to have it all. But on his latest mission to sign a high school baseball superstar, Rob becomes stranded in a small town where the simplicity of life—and the faith of the people—stand in stark contrast to his own fast-paced, win-at-all-costs mindset. Torn between these two worlds, will Rob have the courage to let faith transform his life? This heartwarming story of redemption is sure to entertain and inspire the whole family.
Ring The Bell features a host of well-known Christian music artists, such as Mark Hall along with his band Casting Crowns, Steven Curtis Chapman, and Matthew West, all who play a role in this inspirational drama. Several former and current Major League Baseball all-stars are also featured in the film: ESPN analysts John Kruk and Rick Sutcliffe (a former Cy Young Award winner), along with Ben Zobrist.
This family-friendly movie was produced by Mark Miller, Beach Street Records' founder and Casting Crowns’ producer. Miller, who is also the lead singer and founder of country music group Sawyer Brown, co-wrote the script with Thomas Weber and Weber directed the production.
I'm not quite sure why this movie got a PG rating for "Mild Thematic Elements". It seemed squeaky clean to me. Perhaps because of some tragedies mentioned (parents dying in a plane crash, boy delivered to a group home because his mother was in a car crash)? Anyways, there was no profanity, no skimpy outfits, no "cover the kids' eyes" scenes. Just a hokey little town with quirky characters and a whole lot of baseball.
Even though we're not baseball fans, we enjoyed this movie. It was a bit predictable... hot-shot, fast-talking sports agent goes to a small town to talk the local baseball sensation into signing up for a major-league team rather than going to college. You just know that instead of charming the small-town boy out of his plans, the small town will charm him into changing... but I don't want to give away too much of the plot!
The movie has a lot of cameos by non-actors. Steven Curtis Chapman plays a pastor. Matthew West plays the part of a manager of a baseball team. Several baseball legends appear in a scene towards the end of the movie (for those who know baseball, it's Rick Sutcliffe, John Kruk, and Ben Zobrist). They did pretty well with acting, being out of their comfort zones. I think it made the movie a bit more fun.
We got some good laughs out of their portrayal of small town life. They sure wrote up some unique characters when they put together this script!
The Christian music group Casting Crowns also appears in the movie, as the characters attend a Casting Crowns concert. Nice touch!
One thing I'm always looking for on DVDs is special features. I love watching the background stories, blooper reels, and other details about the movie itself. This DVD has several special features:
DVD Special Features:
The Heart of "Ring the Bell"
The Heart of "Ring the Bell"
Casting Crowns “The Well” Music Video
On Set with Casting Crowns
Famous Faces
A Very Special Movie
Ringing the Bell
The Artists and Music of "Ring The Bell"
If you want to check it out, stop by the Ring The Bell Website, where you can watch a trailer of the movie, or visit their Facebook page. You can pick the video up for $12.99 on Amazon! Pick it up and have a family movie night at your house, too!
I'm doing a giveaway - so one lucky family can get their copy of Ring The Bell for free!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Looks like a good movie.
ReplyDeleteAll 3! I love a good christian movie.
ReplyDeleteI want to see it because it's a family friendly movie!
ReplyDeleteAnd the winner is... Stephanie!
ReplyDelete