Believe Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		2.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

Believe Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman April 21, 2017

You won't Believe in miracles after watching this disappointment. Most regular readers will know that this reviewer is as big a fan of the Inspirational film as anyone out there, but Director Billy Dickson's Believe is a sluggish, uninspired, trite, overlong, and underwhelming genre entry. The story is a mess, the acting is by-and-large disappointing (with one notable exception), and the movie fails to resonate with the sort of emotional undercurrent and hard-hitting depth one might expect of a film of this sort. It makes a desperate attempt to grab a foothold in the ever expanding and increasingly popular faith-based genre, but it has no heart, even as it so desperately tries to create one. Add in an unpalatable visual presentation and it's a struggle to get through the movie.

Every year, wealthy businessman Matthew Peyton (Ryan O'Quinn) ponies up the cash so his small home town can put on its annual Christmas Pageant, which has become a big deal to the citizens and a boom in business for local shopkeepers. But every year is not this year. Peyton reluctantly announces that, because of an economic turndown and the very real possibility that funding the Pageant would me closing his business' doors, he won't be honoring his annual commitment. His decision sparks an uproar. The citizenry turns on him, big time. They believe he's hoarding profits. He claims financial hardship. His car is egged, and he's beaten to within an inch of his life. Lucky for him, a good samaritan, a young boy named Clarence (Isaac Ryan Brown), comes to his aid. Clarence and his mother Sharon (Danielle Nicolet) live modestly to say the least, but Clarence is an upbeat kid, anyway, who views life as an adventure, not a challenge. But he's gung-ho for the Pageant. It's his favorite time of the year, and he's doubly excited to learn that none other than the Peyton who makes it all happen is recovering from his injuries right there beside him. Can he and Peyton find a way to put the Pageant on and settle the local tension, or will the stress prove too much and ruin all they love and the friendship they've built?

So, essentially, a man is caught between a rock and a hard place, squashing his body and his soul, literally in the case of the former and metaphorically in the case of the latter. The movie proves rather ironic as its adult characters battle over profits and essentially stone Peyton in the court of public opinion for not shelling out the money that will invariably make all of them money. That leads to a beating which leads to a saving grace, the proverbial light in the darkness, in the form of a spirited little boy whose lot in life doesn't get him down. He views life as an adventure, not as a business. He sees the value in the pageant for its Christmas magic and the spirit it engenders, not for the bottom line that's causing the stir on both sides. He has that luxury -- he's a kid -- but that he comes from poverty yet makes the best out of it is what sets him apart and makes his voice the loudest in the movie, again literally and metaphorically.

He may raise spirits in the film, but he doesn't raise spirits in the audience. That's no fault of young actor Isaac Ryan Brown, who is unquestionably the film's saving grace. The performance may not be a technical masterpiece, but it makes up for its shortcomings with an obvious spunk and spirit that's truly second-to-none. He's almost reason enough alone to watch; there's certainly not any other. It's too bad his effort is wasted on a movie that is otherwise spiritless, overcooked, and underwhelming, even as it tries very, very hard to the contrary.

Believe has its heart in the right place -- it really does -- but the execution leaves much to be desired. The film never finds an identity beyond its desperate attempt to say something...anything, it seems...and leave a lasting impression that isn't its list of structural negatives. It doesn't want to conquer its genre, to its credit. It just wants to be a part of it, but it doesn't seem to know how to go about achieving the same honest sincerity that even really, really small films like Silver Bells manage to find. The film boasts its share of dramatic good will, but there's no flow. It's entirely about its purpose, and its purpose drags out far too long in scenes that are far too repetitive -- really, the movie feels like it could trim a good 40 minutes, still hit all the high point inspiration notes and explore the critical character and plot characteristics -- that only bog it down at first, diminish it later, and destroy by the end everything it wants to say. The plot is too convoluted for such a simple message. It gets seriously bogged down in literal verbal spats over the Christmas pageant, the public decrying Peyton for looking out for his bottom line when they, who have a log in their own eye, are only upset, it seems, because his failure to pony up will in turn negatively impact their own bottom lines. These sorts of movies just work better when the spirit, not the nuts-and-bolt real-world grit, dominates. The movie at least tries to do something different, but it's too poorly constructed (though not necessarily poorly conceived) to work as a positive, uplifting film.

Believe Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Believe is a lower-end production and, in this day and age, it's not surprising that it was digitally photographed. Unfortunately, it's of a decidedly lower-grade digital, and the Blu-ray results are inconsistent at best and poor at worst. When the image is on, it's at least a bit stable, very smooth and very flat but finding enough general detail, sharpness, and resolution-based crispness to satisfy. It looks fairly good at-a-glance, but its plusses are quickly overwhelmed by its negatives. Faces are terribly pasty and smooth, devoid of all but the most fractional, marginal details. Clarity is fine, but don't expect intimate definition underneath the extremely pasty overlay. Environments fare a little better but ultimately succumb to much the same fate: sharp but not very well defined at the intimate level. Colors are almost comically over-saturated; contrast is way out of whack, and if it's not the film's intended style it's just an unattractive morass of overly pumped colors. Black levels can push a bit purple. Flesh tones are push fairly hot at times. Noise is prominent and there's an unsightly barrage of jagged edges and aliasing at play, too. This is a wholly unattractive Blu-ray that makes a tiresome film all the less enjoyable.

Believe Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Believe's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 loses soundtrack is at least fairly active and enjoyable. The film is arguably overly reliant on music, and Pop songs in particular, to help tell the story, but the good news is that they play with excellent definition, seamless spacing, and a quality low end support where applicable. Score follows suit. The track features several moments of heightened intensity beyond its basic dialogue-driven structure. Whether a train powering through the stage, party or workplace din, a raging fire, or a few other little bits, the track's activity engages a wide area and is reproduced with superb clarity, helping to draw the listener into various environments throughout the film. As noted, dialogue powers the majority, and it's presented with natural front-center positioning, effortless clarity, and consistent prioritization above all surrounding sound elements.

Believe Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Believe contains a lengthy featurette, deleted scenes, and outtakes. A DVD copy of the film is included with purchase.

• Faith Is Everywhere: The Making of Believe (1080p, 28:58): A look at the making of the movie, from the beginning. A director introduction is followed by a trailer; interviews that recount the plot, characters, themes, shooting locations, and making various scenes; clips from the film; and plenty of raw on-set footage.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 3:00 total runtime): Several scenes lumped together with no identifying markers.
• Outtakes (1080p, 12:58): humorous moments from the shoot.

Believe Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Believe feels like a very rough draft committed to film. There's a commendable core at work, a good, albeit well-traveled, message in the middle. But nothing at all about the film works on any level. It's poorly edited: obscenely too long and insanely repetitive. Characters are not well defined within the movie's needlessly convoluted plot. Actor enthusiasm is apparent and the movie's saving grace, but they can't save the poorly penned figures they play. The movie's purpose and messaging are unfortunately drowned out by everything it does wrong. The good news is that there are plenty of great like-minded movies out there; the aforementioned Silver Bells is a much better Christmastime spiritual film that shares many of the same core characteristics. Sony's Blu-ray features decent audio and a few extras, but the video quality is nearly as disappointing as the movie. Skip it.