Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

To Save a Life Blu-ray Movie Review

A pristine transfer supports a must-see film of real faith, understanding, friendship and love.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 22, 2010

God, we don't always understand why, but we choose to trust You even in our pain.

These are times of great peril. Countless crises before have come and gone to be sure, but the deluge of issues faced today by a world that seems always on the brink of another disaster -- devastating hurricanes, costly oil spills, economic uncertainty, terrorism, lengthy wars, and political strife -- paint a picture where the absence of hope, the dimming of the light at the end of the tunnel, constant bickering, perpetual distrust, or fear of the unknown have come to define the 21st century. That's not even to mention the personal crises faced by millions in the home and within themselves -- unplanned pregnancies, broken families, self-doubt -- that only seem to work in some negative harmony with the larger issues facing the world that together seem to advance the notion that hope, peace, understanding, acceptance, friendship, a helping hand, or a kind word are but dreams of a place that seems to have long since vanished or, maybe, even, never existed. Despite it all, great advances in technology, communication, and medicine have made the world a smaller place, a place, it would seem thanks to these miracles of science, that's ripe and ready to yield the means of solving problems, not adding to them. It doesn't seem to be happening, but maybe people aren't looking in the right place. This is a world, maybe, that needs something more, something supernatural, something science cannot explain or create, something that's greater than the great turmoil that appears on the news and the personal crises that chew at every man's soul. To Save a Life, a small faith-based picture that shares the importance of honest and Biblically-based faith, friendship, understanding, and love, just might, somewhere in its touching and purposeful commentary, have those answers that can't be found elsewhere.

Looking for answers.

Jake Taylor (Randy Wayne) was at one time best friends with Roger Dawson (Robert Bailey Jr.). Roger even saved Jake's life one, pushing him out of the way of a speeding car, breaking his own leg in the process and leaving him with a lifelong limp. As time passed, however, the two found themselves drifting apart. Jake's basketball career blossomed and he earned the love of the most desirable girl in school, Amy (Deja Kreutzberg). Ultimately, Jake chose to revel in his popularity and abandon Roger for good, leaving him a friendless outcast and questioning his place in the world. Then, out of nowhere, it seems, Roger commits suicide by gun in school and in front of Jake. His classmates do little more than shrug it off, but Jake begins to questions his own part in Roger's suicide. He let his friend down, and he's paying the price with a tattered conscience and a troubled soul. As fortune -- or something greater still -- would have it, Jake meets the local youth minister, Chris (Joshua Weigel), who also sees himself as something of a guilty party in Roger's death for having paid him little attention when Roger reached out to Chris' ministry days before his suicide, only to again find himself alone and ignored. Chris, instead, reaches out to Jake; he invites him to church, an invitation Jake accepts as a means of escaping from his crumbling home life. As Jake finds himself questioning his life and priorities, he must choose to act on an inkling that may be a higher calling or to move on with his life and ignore the cries for help he hears not only from those around him, but from within his own heart.

What To Save a Life is and needs to be is a portal towards, a window that looks upon, an introduction to, or a reinforcement of those Godly principles that can reshape a life and maybe rescue another from the perils of a world that seems defined by negativity both internal and external. It's about seeing past façades, looking beyond what others deem right or wrong, and answering that call that dares one to be different, to stand up for what he or she believes, to find faith and friendship and truth and light by means of having traversed the disbelief, the loneliness, the lies, and the darkness and finding that there's something more, something better, something worth sharing, something worth living for, beyond all that which threatens to destroy the good for the betterment of evil. No doubt the world is a frightening place. Disaster seems like it's around every corner on a global, national, local, and personal level. It's impossible to escape, but it's not impossible to find meaning in it and a means of combatting it by daring to deny the powers of strife and hate and rejection and fear by accepting the challenge to find a higher calling and rising above those that would promote evil by instead glorifying and exemplifying all that is good. To Save a Life tells the story of one teenager who found in tragedy a purpose for his life that had been masked by those around him, people who chose to ignore the pain of others and promote only self and one another without care for those in need and, just as importantly, the welfare of their own souls.

To Save a Life is a difficult film to watch, but not because it's poorly developed or shoddily produced. Quite the opposite, in fact; the film is so effective at depicting the pain of its characters and the uncertainty of the world in which they live that their struggles seem to extend beyond the scope of the film and settle into the audience's conscience, effectively placing each viewer in the shoes of all those characters with some role to play in Jake's journey from popular jock to a man who sees beyond self and accepts responsibility for righting the wrongs around him. No doubt the film is built with the purpose of emotionally and thematically making its message come through loud and clear -- it will yank on the heartstrings and never stop doing so, even after film's end -- but that's how Inspirational cinema works, and To Save a Life, despite some tearjerking moments and contrived plot devices, never feels at all phony or disingenuous. The characters are strongly developed and always seem like real people with real problems, hopes, fears, and relationships, and the progression through the film for each one feels honest rather than dramatically manipulative. It's difficult to witness the downward spirals, doubts, and tragedies that unfold, but it's equally inspiring to see the characters not just pull through and survive, but to thrive, to find something greater than themselves, not only for the sake of their own well-being but for the betterment of others. As the film might say and the old saying goes, "the Lord works in mysterious ways," and while pain and suffering and self-doubt and hardships and lies and dangers abound, To Save a Life responds by saying, "God, we don't always understand why, but we choose to trust You even in our pain."

Indeed, To Save a Life is a movie with the potential to engender with a viewing life-changing realizations on the importance of discovering good through the ultimate understanding of how and why bad things happen. One of the movie's great strengths is that it sugarcoats nothing; it puts everything on the table and leaves no stone unturned, focusing rather bluntly on issues such as suicide, premarital sex, teen pregnancy, abandonment, infidelity, divorce, hate, prejudice, and dishonesty, all with blunt and real (but still PG-13 appropriate) language. To Save a Life works because it's not afraid of the truth, the truth in pain and the truth in salvation. It's a Christian faith-based film with honest spiritual overtones that are never hidden but not always bluntly inserted into the story. The story focuses on choosing friendship, faith, and integrity over sacrificing others and one's own self-worth for the sake of enjoying the superficial perks of being a part of the "in-crowd;" it proves not only touching but also heartfelt, honest, and emotionally charged, and all purposefully so. Additionally, the picture's themes and purposes are only helped by a steady production that looks much bigger than its small budget might otherwise suggest. To Save a Life has all the spit and polish of Dramas that cost far more than the reported $1,000,000 budget; there never seems a time when the movie looks like it's cutting corners, and despite the absence of any "movie stars," the cast all deliver some of the most honest performances viewers are ever likely to encounter in an Inspirational film. Kudos to Director Brian Baugh, Writer Jim Britts, the cast, and the crew for making To Save a Life a movie that works just as well from a technical perspective as it does an emotional and thematic one.

To Save a Life Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

A low-budget movie doesn't necessarily mean a low-grade Blu-ray; Sony brings To Save a Life to the high definition format with a nearly-faultless 1080p, 2.35:1-framed transfer. There's very little to be said about this one. Detail is dazzling, the transfer capturing even the slightest nuances on character faces, clothes, grasses, cars, walls, and any and every object found in-frame. Depth is strong, clarity is superb, and the image is consistently sharp. Colors excel, appearing vibrant in every scene but never looking artificially boosted or underdeveloped. Blacks, too, are very strong, absorbing and deep but never devouring finer details within the frame. Flesh tones also maintain a pleasant neutrality. To Save a Life features no discernible blemishes and just a slight bit of background noise, and the transfer yields a wonderfully convincing cinematic presentation. This has all the hallmarks of a pristine transfer, and indeed, never does To Save a Life deliver anything less. This is another splendid new release transfer from Sony.

To Save a Life Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

To Save a Life comes to Blu-ray with a DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack that's of a rather typical Drama-on-Blu-ray quality. The film is dialogue-intensive, and it handles the spoken word very well, but it also does a few other things that manage to spruce up the listen and add some vitality to the experience. The track delivers just the right amount of surround support in those scenes that demand it. An early basketball game scene features a fair bit of ambient crowd noise spilling into the back channels; listeners won't mistake it for a real-life event, but it's certainly good enough for a low-budget Drama soundtrack. The track is also punchy in places, with some Rap music one scene delivering some crisp notes across the front and a fair, but not overpowering, accompanying low end. Otherwise, this track is made of the most basic nuts-and-bolts elements; it offers nothing new and nothing particularly memorable, but it's a fine supportive track to a Drama-intensive movie, and listeners will be hard-pressed to find too many faults with Sony's effort.

To Save a Life Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

To Save a Life debuts on Blu-ray with a fair assortment of extras. Things begin with an audio commentary track with Director Brian Baugh, Writer/Co-Producer Jim Britts, and Producers Nicole Franco and Steve Foster. This is a fairly basic track, light but informative, with the participants covering the expected array of topics, including the challenge of opening the film with a funeral scene, the casting process, the picture's themes, shooting the various basketball scenes, filling out several scenes with extras, the picture's length, and plenty of other interesting tidbits. This is a fairly strong track that fans will enjoy. 'To Save a Life:' Behind the Scenes (1080p, 12:16) is a short piece with cast and crew discussing the picture's purpose and themes, the work of Director Brian Baugh, the quality of the actors, the work of extras, shooting the basketball segments, and more, all intercut with plenty of behind-the-scenes footage. Also included is a collection of eight deleted scenes (1080p, 9:47); a gag reel (1080p, 5:58); the music videos "Bounce" by J-Rus (1080p, 3:31) and "Sunset Cliffs" by Paul Wright (1080p, 3:18); BD-Live functionality; and 1080p trailers for The Karate Kid, Facing the Giants, and Fireproof.

To Save a Life Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

To Save a Life is a film best suited to age-appropriate teenagers who are looking for meaning in life or a reinforcement of their Christian values. For others, don't let the "Christian" or "Inspirational" labels become deciding factors in passing this one by. To Save a Life is an honest and genuinely good and well-meaning picture that is, yes, sometimes blunt in its message but also sincere in the way that it delivers it. There's no hidden agenda, no dishonesty about the story, no glossing over the tough issues. If for no other reason, To Save a Life deserves recognition for serving as a picture that's as current, relevant, and hard-hitting as most anything else that's out there in its category, and from a technical perspective, it holds its own with any Hollywood big-budget Drama in terms of production values and appeal. To Save a Life is a must-see picture for audiences that can handle the tough themes and who are maybe in need of a movie that's capable of bringing about an understanding of why things happen and the power that exists in nothing more than an extended hand, a "hello," or a belief in something greater than one's own self, any and all of which can maybe save not just a life but one's own soul in crisis. Sony's Blu-ray release of To Save a Life boasts a pristine 1080p transfer, a good lossless soundtrack, and several worthwhile extras. Highly recommended.