Jesus Revolution Is Surprisingly Good

Christian media has been heavily pushing Jesus Revolution, but is this movie worth the hype. Surprisingly accomplishes what seemed highly unlikely from the outset. Jesus Revolution has a number of red flags. The first being the people behind it, mainly Devon Franklin. Devon Franklin was a filmmaker behind Heaven Is For Real, a heretical Heaven tourism story and is also producing Mike Todd’s upcoming Relationship Goals movie, a film that will likely try to emulate Think Like A Man. The other major red flag is Lonnie Frisbee. How exactly were they going to portray such a problematic figure in church history?

Lonnie Frisbee was a prominent figure in the Jesus Movement, which this film is about. It’s also highly questionable as to whether he was saved. Greg Laurie is quite open about Lonnie Frisbee falling away from the faith following his divorce, but maintains that Lonnie Frisbee repented before dying from AIDS, a natural consequence of his sin, in 1993. Lonnie Frisbee was a shady character with many unchecked flaws in his life. This movie did not shy away from showing the cracks and how they formed, much to my shock, as it takes until the back half for this to happen.

Plot Summary

The movie begins with Chuck Smith (Kelsey Grammar) preaching in a sparsely crowded church about a lost generation, consciously aware of how empty his church is. His daughter forces him into meeting hippies by bringing home Lonnie Frisbee (Jonathan Roumie) off of the street. Chuck takes a liking to Lonnie and incorporates him into his church, and Lonnie grows it by bringing a bunch of hippies into the congregation. The church swells in numbers and so Chuck and Lonnie move Calvary Chapel to a tent and ultimately create a movement.

Meanwhile Greg Laurie (Joel Courtney) is a coming of age youth pursuing his would be wife Cathe (Anna Grace Barlow) and wanting to be a hippy himself in search of truth. He eventually meets Lonnie Frisbee during a stupor and starts attending church with Cathe. Greg Laurie gets baptized and the second half of the movie is more of a character drama between Chuck and Lonnie, Greg and Cathe as Greg struggles with his abandonment issues and identity. For Greg’s arc, it’s a coming of age story. For Chuck and Lonnie, it’s closer to Behind The Blow. 

The Best and Worst of Evangelicalism

What stands out in this movie is how this movie does not pull its punches. It shows the good and ugly parts of the Jesus Movement’s beginnings. The good being that Chuck Smith  preached the gospel to the hippies of California, empowered people to evangelize, and is not shown to compromise his message in the process. Chuck Smith emerges as a hero in the movie for combatting the impulses of Lonnie Frisbee  to be full of himself rather than the Holy Spirit. Greg Laurie becomes a Christian and becomes deeply involved in the church, eventually feeling called to ministry.

Lonnie Frisbee while a passionate and relatable preacher is shown to make worship about himself and his theatrics. He is shown neglecting his marriage. I will also add that this film placed a greater emphasis on healing than repentance, a criticism of the movement it was portraying, rather than the film.

Additionally, the worship music in this film make Hillsong sound like a systematic theology. Other than the worship music, the film has an excellent soundtrack.

Acting performances by Kelsey Grammar and Jonathan Roumie are laudable. Jonathan Roumie has a screen presence that perhaps precedes him from his time playing Jesus on The Chosen.

Conclusions

Jesus Revolution is about God using unlikely people to spread the gospel. It is also about God using a highly flawed person, Lonnie Frisbee, to impact Greg Laurie’s life. While the movie portrays hippies as “seekers” which would later on be used to justify seeker-friendly churches, in reality there are no seekers but there are plenty of people with hearts ready to hear the gospel. This film excels is telling a balanced story about the Jesus Movement, neither revisionist of controversial figures nor idolizing them. It also excels as a coming of age movie for Greg Laurie, its main character.