God’s not dead, but if he had to sit through the movie currently in theaters by that name, he might wish he were. A cinematic romp through stereotypes, caricatures, and gross generalizations, “God’s Not Dead” is one of the worst movie experiences I’ve had in a long, long time.
I suppose I should give a spoiler alert here, though it’s hard to imagine spoiling a movie already so thoroughly rotten.
For those who haven’t seen its comical trailer, “God’s Not Dead” is about a heroic Christian college freshman named Josh who defies his maniacal philosophy professor (Kevin Sorbo) by refusing to write and sign “God is Dead” on a piece of paper in a bizarre opening assignment, earning him the course requirement of defending the antithesis: that God exists and is very much alive.
I’ve taught college classes, and Sorbo’s class bears little to no resemblance to reality, but then neither do the myriad other caricatures throughout the film. Indeed, that is really all this film is: a Christian Right exercise in stereotyping all manner of God haters and God deniers.
There’s an anti-religious, vegetarian reporter who ambushes one of the Duck Dynasty crew to get him to admit he kills ducks when he hunts them (a very strange scoop indeed). She ends up with cancer and of course converts.
Her corporate tycoon boyfriend, played by Dean Caine, cares only for himself and his success, going so far as to ask her if their discussion about her cancer diagnosis can’t “wait till tomorrow.”
