GOD WITH US Movie Minute Review

This is Paul Salfen with your KLAK Movie Minute. In theaters this weekend is God With Us, a totally new modern urban take on the nativity story. Set in Baltimore in an alternate world years ago when people are turning on God with a frustration about the state of the world and no arrival of a promised Messiah, the angel Gabriel – played by wisecracking comedian Lil Rel Howley visits Mary, who is a young pretty girl with a boyfriend named Joseph (that goes my Junie) and all is well until she receives the world that she will be pregnant with the Messiah and lo and behold she is with no support from her untrusting grandparents and boyfriend but then it becomes obvious that something special is happening and the couple must go on the run to avoid some people that don’t want to see this happen. While on the surface it doesn’t seem to look, feel, or sound like the story people read in The Bible, it actually follows the framework faithfully and its heart is absolutely in the right place. Writer-director Jimmy Jenkins took a big swing here but those of faith will see the heart  – and soul – in this and enjoy the ride. Our young leads, Aspen Kennedy and Ashley Olivia Fisher shine here as does the supporting cast and it will serve as a nice reminder of the reason for the season in this divisive time. The story and the message is, of course, timeless. That’s it for this week. Join me next week and every week for another Movie Minute right here on 97.5 KLAK, AMFM MAGAZINE, and RECRD.