Silver Bells Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Silver Bells Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman December 24, 2016

Silver Bells isn't exactly the cinematic equivalent of rocket science. Its messaging is simple, its construction straightforward, its script wholesome and focused and polished only enough to tell the story in a fluid, enjoyable manner. It's basic storytelling, elementary filmmaking, and one hundred percent heartwarming. Director Harold Cronk's (God's Not Dead) film asks only that its audience soak up the good vibes, better intentions, and finer spiritual themes that run through its story of a man who must find redemption in the world by cleansing his heart and soul of selfish actions. It's a simple faith-based, lesson-learned, life-changed sort of film. With heart in the right place, a lightness on its feet, enjoyable performances, and very understanding of its own audience and goals, Silver Bells pleases as an upright movie that's very much in the spirit of all of the right and true meanings of Christmas.

Veteran TV sportscaster Bruce Dalt (Bruce Boxleitner), known for his catchphrase "for the win," has a pretty high opinion of himself. He's perpetually drunk on his talent and fame and believes that the world revolves round him. While Black Friday shopping with his teenage son Jason (Kenton Duty), he has a run-in with another shopper over a disputed front-row parking space that eventually spills over into a conversation with a couple of Salvation Army bell ringers, including Major Melvin Lowell (Antonio Fargas), working outside the store. Jason, embarrassed by his father's attitude (and to satisfy his own charitable spirit), drops a few coins in the bucket. Not to be outdone, father plops in some more. Later at his son's basketball game, Bruce has a violent run-in with a referee, bops him in the nose with the ball, and is kicked out of the game. Video of the incident lands on the Internet and lands Bruce in hot water. He's taken off the air and faces a day in court. He's sentenced to hours of community service, and the judge orders him to report to the Salvation Army where he'll be working directly under Major Lowell. Bruce is at first put off and humiliated. When he learns that the Army awards prizes to those who collect the most donations, he selfishly turns his service into a competition. Can he learn the true meaning of giving and service and what winning truly entails, or will his bell ringing experience go in one ear and out the other?

Silver Bells exists in that Hallmark Holiday movie mold in both tone and texture. Its cruder structural qualities as well as its narrative details and development, not to mention performances and thematic intangibles, all reflect a fairly routine Christmas-themed film that's more about its spiritual givings and less its mainstream bonafides. The movie's premise is incredibly simple and there's not much mystery to how it will unfold, either. It's not a movie that's about the experience but rather the purpose, asking audiences to walk away not enamored with its technical workmanship or its narrative's cunning but instead its simple pleasures and purpose-driven message about helping others, the value of humbleness, and the spirit of Christmas that lives year-round. The movie, essentially, is about finding the joy in giving and sharing, kindness, an open heart, and a gentle soul. It's not at all deep, just true and honest. It's fun, too, never forgetting that it's a movie and not a sermon or an extended advertisement for charity. While it certainly lacks the production values of even the more modest holiday and even some of the faith-based films, Silver Bells never feels as if it's betraying the trust in the viewer who does have a reasonable expectation that the filmmakers have put in an honest day's work behind-the-scenes, and it's clear that they have.

The movie's performances elevate it considerably, not so much because they're of the award-winning caliber but because they're genuine, to the point, and easily and clearly understanding of the characters' cores and their place in the story. Bruce Boxleitner nails his character, playing to both extremes -- the selfish father and the understanding giver -- while slowly and effortlessly morphing from one to the other with an effortless grace and plenty of humor along the way, whether chasing down would-be donors to the Salvation Army's cause, fighting with another volunteer over a bag of flour in the kitchen, or in his interactions with Major Lowell, which take on a different tone and texture every time they meet. Speaking of the good Major, Antonio Fargas is fantastic as the movie's bedrock character who immediately sees beyond Bruce's me-first façade and guides him, gently and firmly at the same time, through the maze of his own heart and finds the teaching moment in everything they do. It's a performance with plenty of soul, a genuine love for the part and the movie's message. It's a beautiful effort of one of the most likable, well-written, and best-performed characters in recent Christian movie history.

Silver Bells Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Silver Bells features a 1080p, 1.78:1-framed transfer. The digital source photography yields an image on the middle of the scale. Source noise is evident throughout, color saturation and depth aren't great, and details are merely adequate. While colors are vibrant, there's not a lot of nuance. Bright uniform colors on the basketball court, for example, never find a realistic punch even with all of the raw pop on display. Detailing is fair to good. Cold weather clothing, like sweaters, flannel shirts, and jeans find just enough natural complexity to satisfy base requirements. The same can be said of skin textures and other details around the movie, like upholstery, the Salvation Army kettle, or the basketball floor. Black levels push a shade of navy (and show a fair bit of noise). Flesh tones are decent if not a little undersaturated. Macroblocking is evident, but usually not to a serious extent. This is hardly a top-of-the-line image, more reflective of a basic HD TV broadcast, maybe, but it carries the film well enough.

Silver Bells Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Silver Bells foregoes any lossless soundtrack options for a Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation. It's fairly straightforward and shows the movie's limited sound design and technical limitations almost right out of the gate with dialogue that plays with a slight, but noticeable, tinny and shallow texture to it. It's not constant and not a deal breaker, but it's sporadically evident throughout. On the plus side, basic musical clarity is good, width across the front adequate, and surround support present, albeit somewhat light. Crowd ambience at Jason's basketball game is somewhat widely dispersed, not very full sounding but good enough to sell the basic illusion of space, place, and people. Surrounds pick up some discrete effects as they're positioned away from the camera, whether dialogue or, in the film's final minutes, knocks at the Dalt family front door. A few examples of light, natural atmospherics enjoy slight surround presence. Note that subtitle options can be accessed under the "Special Features" tab on the Blu-ray disc.

Silver Bells Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Silver Bells contains a behind-the-scenes feature (1080p, 5:16) which is just as advertised, offering a montage of footage from the shoot, set to pleasing piano music. Also included are an assortment of trailers for Silver Bells (1080p, 2:22) and several other Pure Flix titles. The actor interviews promised on the back of the box do not appear.

Silver Bells Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Silver Bells is an honest and fun little movie that offers a good message, quality performances, and plenty of family-friendly entertainment value. It's a movie that champions service to others in lieu of selfishness. It's about friends and family and the true meaning of Christmas, which can carry over to every day of the year. Pure Flix's Blu-ray is a little thin in the supplemental section (and even promises one on the back of the box which doesn't appear to exist on the disc). Video and audio qualities are also a little crude by bigger movie and studio standards, but passable. Highly recommended based solely on the quality of the movie.