Review: The List -  1081 days ago

 

From the official site:

Renny Jacobson, a young Charlotte lawyer, learns that his father has suddenly died. Returning home to Charleston, Renny is shocked to discovery that his father bequeathed his significant estate to charity, only leaving Renny an interest in an unknown, obscure entity – The Covenant List of South Carolina, Ltd.

But what he doesn’t know about the List could be his undoing – forever.

You can watch the trailer here

And thus starts this supernatural thriller, leading the viewer on a ride that takes some great steps forward for the Christian filmmaking genre, yet as a story, does not quite live up to all that’s promised. I attended one of the premiere showings last night in Charlotte, NC, and was pretty impressed by the turnout. The church crowd appeared to be out in full force to support author Robert Whitlow’s venture into film. Having never read the book, I can’t vouch for how faithfully the big screen adaptation followed the novel, though I did hear one viewer complaining that “it wasn’t as good as the book”.

Message / Story:
It’s definitely not a boring storyline. There are enough plot twists to keep you guessing (unless of course you’ve read the book) and (partially) the needed character development to keep you engaged emotionally…well, at least with Renny. Other than Thr3e, this is one of the only Christian films that could truly classify itself as a “thriller”. It was refreshing to see a movie that wasn’t “heartwarming”, claiming to give a picture of the end times, or trying to get across its message through dialogue heavy scenes. In fact, I appreciated the effort to show the message through story and action rather than conversation. Spiritual dialogue scenes were kept to a minimum. Unfortunately, sometimes the story’s intended message suffered as a result. There were a few times where I wasn’t quite sure how I was supposed to interpret a scene that was obviously pivotal to the character development because almost nothing was said.
There’s something about secret societies that are just a bit creepy, and The List doesn’t disappoint in this regard. The script carefully walks the fine line between overdoing the sinister and still keeping grounded in reality. The personalities that make up the group are normal – almost strangely so. But upon deeper investigation, all isn’t what it seems. Who should Renny trust? What’s really going on? And that brings us to the climax of the film. I could definitely see signs of the film’s adaptation origins – every once in a while (especially near the end) there seemed to be logical jumps that were probably fully covered in the book, and were cut out for time’s sake in the script. This was fine at the beginning, but at the end it was dissastisfying. There were some payoffs, such as Renny’s relationship with Jo, that didn’t connect with me because there hadn’t been sufficient setup or conflict earlier. And there were other plot elements, such as the mysterious graveyard caretaker, that never payoff, leaving you wondering why a particular scene was included. I guess the biggest scriptwriting lesson I came away with is that the promise to payoff formula is important to fulfill…on both ends of the equation. The audience will only appreciate the fulfillment of something when they’ve seen the struggle to achieve (hence The List’s romance shortcoming), and they’ll be left slightly unhappy if (seemingly) important plot elements are never resolved.

Technical:
I’m not sure what the budget was, but if small, the lack of dollars didn’t manifest itself in limited production value. The lighting, the camera work, the acting – overall, I was impressed with the quality. There are many elements that take a film’s technical quality from average to great, and The List successfully nailed most of those details.
There are only two quibbles I have with the film’s technical aspects, and one of those items really surprised me. There was one particular scene, a dinner with the members of the List, in which the lack of ambient sound really hurt the scene. Two characters are having a private conversation in one corner of the room, but the room seems to be totally quiet except for their voices. I thought maybe everyone else in the room was listening in, but when the camera cuts to a wide shot, I was surprised to see that the other dinner guests were talking among themselves. Yet, when the camera cuts back again to the two, all room noise is gone again. It was very strange, and a surprising oversight.


The second quibble I have is with focus. The focus puller was obviously having a hard time with those walking toward the camera shots. Sometimes you almost wanted to squint because the picture was just fuzzy enough to make you wonder if it was your eyes or the screen.

Summary:
For the Christian film genre, I’d give The List a 7 out of 10. Renny Jacobson, arfully portrayed by Chuck Carrington, is a sympathetic character whose encounter with “The List” draws you in almost immediately. This film is blazing new trails for the religious film industry by focusing on story as the primary vehicle for its message. Marred mainly by plot jumps, strange portrayals of prayer and a weak ending, the film nonethless is generally a success. If you’re an aspiring screenwriter, I’d recommend buying a copy and going over the story with a fine tooth comb. I think you’ll discover some lessons of what works (and what doesn’t) when trying to simultaneously communicate truth and engage the viewing audience.

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