By Geno McGahee
I was a fan of the GOD’S NOT DEAD series. In 2014, the first film came out, followed by the second in 2016 and the third in 2018. The first two films were a lot of fun with cartoonish villains played by Kevin Sorbo and Ray Wise. The third entry changed the tone to a more serious dramatic one and we see more of that in this latest one, GOD’S NOT DEAD: WE THE PEOPLE.
Mike (Antonio Sabato, JR.) and Rebecca (Francesca Battistelli) homeschool their child, along with others, and that soon becomes a problem when a government official shows up to cite them for not teaching according to state regulations. This gets the attention of Reverend Dave Hill (David. A.R. White) and he soon starts thinking about how to approach it. He has a flashback to a conversation with his old friend, Reverend Jude (Benjamin A. Onyango), and that was good. They should have never killed him off in the last one.
The film gives a lot of focus to prospective reverend, Martin (Paul Kwo). Kwo was in the other entries but never in such a major part and he cannot act. His acting is so wooden and monotone and the initial conversion that he has with Ayisha (Hadeel Sittu) is so bad. I’m not sure why they focused on Kwo so much in this one. He worked out alright in the others when he was featured minimally and directed better, but here, nothing about him or his conversations seem legitimate.
Mike and Rebecca go in front of Judge Neely (Jeannine Pirro) and she makes the decision that the homeschoolers must conform to government regulations or they will be fined and potentially incarcerated. Reverend Hill goes into action, meeting up with Congressman Smith (Isaiah Washington) and sets up a meeting in Washington and we get some villains for Hill to take on, including Robert Benson (William Forsythe). You cannot go wrong with Forsythe and he’s good in this. He isn’t as over the top as Sorbo or Wise was, but he plays the role well.
As all of this homeschooling conflict is going on, we have the son of Mike and Rebecca, Brandon (Matt Anspach), is looking for his first car and meets Kayla (Dani Oliveros). She is selling a car and the two quickly become a couple. It doesn’t fit the movie that well. Every time this part of the story was going on, I felt it was kind of put in for padding. Both Anspach and Oliveros do well in the roles, but it’s very forgettable stuff.
Hill, Martin, Rebecca, Mike and Taylor (Amanda Jaros), the mother of another homeschooled child, hit Washington. They have their say and this is where the film finds some legs, especially with David A.R. White and his closing speech. The film wasn’t bad up to the final speech of White’s but it showed how vital he was to the success of the series and what he can do when he’s got good material to work with. He delivered, but it was, unfortunately, the only time in the film where it found that drama and quality.
GOD’S NOT DEAD: WE THE PEOPLE is, by far, the weakest entry in the series, but it’s not terrible. It’s slow and the acting is less than great, but it comes together in the last third. The film tries to go after the overreach of the government but I really wish that they could have had another writer take a jab at the film. The writing is pretty weak with the exception of the very end. I don’t know what the hell happened, but he found some greatness there.
I recommend GOD’S NOT DEAD: WE THE PEOPLE. David A.R. White is always great and you can’t lose with William Forsythe, but the first three are so much better. It’s worth a watch but you probably won’t watch it twice.
