I Still Believe

I Still Believe

Starring KJ Apa, Britt Robertson, Gary Sinise, Shania Twain

Directed by Andrew & Jon Erwin

The music biopic subgenre has had its fair share of highs ("Straight Outta Compton," "Rocketman") and lows ("All Eyez On Me"), and has exploded on the scene in recent years.  It was only a matter of time before the Christian community got into the game with their own music biopic, a film based off Christian music's biggest mainstream hit, "I Can Only Imagine."  Christian films - to say the least - aren't very good, and don't really appeal to anyone outside the coveted Bible-loving crowd, but to my surprise I was actually quite moved by "I Can Only Imagine" due to its strong performances and emotional depth that didn't make you feel like you were being manipulated into feeling something, but the feelings were genuine due to the characters on screen.

So when the Erwin brothers (who directed "Imagine") returned with the real-life story of Christian singer Jeremy Camp, I was more optimistic than before, expecting something along the same lines: an emotional, real-life story about love, loss, and overcoming impossible questions about life.  While the film did deliver in those aspects, it felt more hollow, soulless, and tended to force the emotions out of you instead of it occurring naturally.

Jeremy Camp (KJ Apa) heads off to college with the hopes of becoming a major Christian music star, and meets Jean-Luc (Nathan Parsons), who's the frontman for a major Christian band who takes Jeremy in under his wing.  During one performance Jeremy goes out to hand Jean-Luc a new guitar when he sees Melissa Henning (Britt Robertson) in the audience, and is immediately smitten by her.  The two begin talking, but things are complicated because Jean-Luc also has feelings for her, and she doesn't want to let him down.  Still, despite this, they begin dating in secret, until it's revealed and the two come into conflict and break up, with Jeremy going home for Christmas break.

While home he receives word that Melissa has fallen ill, and travels from Illinois to California to be with her, and the two re-kindle their relationship as Melissa struggles with being diagnosed with cancer.  Jeremy decides he wants to marry her, to the chagrin of his parents Tom (Gary Sinise) and Terry (Shania Twain), who think he's rushing into things too quickly.  Jeremy believes God is going to heal Melissa, and as he begins to rise as a star, the two embark on their own perilous journey of healing, and trying to understand what seems impossible to understand.

"I Still Believe" had all the ingredients to make an amazing faith-based music biopic that'd tug at the heartstrings and provide a catharsis for people struggling between their belief that God will heal with the sometimes truth that God doesn't heal, but somehow the film failed to deliver on its premise completely.  There are some very strong moments, but they're overshadowed by weaker events occurring around it that dilutes the natural impact and instead provides an artificial feel that's still potent, but not as effective.

The film is supposed to tell the story of Jeremy Camp and his wife Melissa's journey, and to that it end does succeed (anyone who knows Camp's story will know how it turns out), but maybe the focus was all wrong.  When Melissa comes down with cancer, she tells Jeremy that "if one person's life is changed by what I go through, it would all be worth it," and it occurred to me then that this isn't the story of Jeremy Camp - it's the story of Melissa.  The marketing, the trailers, everything surrounding this film seemed to point to Jeremy Camp, and up until this moment (which was almost halfway through), I felt like it was, and Jeremy's story was severely lacking.  From the moment Melissa appeared on-screen, I felt more drawn to her story than his, and if going into the film I knew it would be about her, then maybe I'd have a different feel for it.

The film portrays Jeremy Camp as your typical wannabe musician, but one who never struggled to achieve his superstar status.  He goes off to college and immediately gets in with a major Christian band, gets to record a demo, and plays at venues all over the area with ease.  The main struggle he faces - which is absolutely, undeniably the worst struggle ever - is dealing with Melissa's illness, but even then you sense a more egocentric performance than that out of true devotion that I feel the real Jeremy Camp gave to Melissa.  It could possibly be due to the casting of "Riverdale" star KJ Apa as Camp, as Apa has a natural performance that always seems to make him the center of attention, but in any event it became hard for me to sympathize with Camp until the end, when I should've been feeling for him the entire time.

However, if you see the film as Melissa's story, you'll probably get a whole new appreciation for it, due to the tremendous, soulful performance of Britt Robertson.  She is not just the emotional anchor of the film, but the spiritual center as well.  As Camp struggles with his faith and desire to see her healed, Melissa almost chides him and tells him that this was all for a greater purpose, and her story was just a chapter in a longer novel to be read.  Even in the midst of unmitigated pain and suffering, Melissa never looses her light essence, and that's thanks in large part to Robertson's dedicated performance against Apa's more self-centered nature.

Maybe I'm all wrong about how the film was supposed to be told, but to me that's what I gained from it.  It seemed like everyone surrounding Apa were giving their all, while he was in it for a simple paycheck.  Most of the film he had no real emotion until it was time to, and by then you still felt bad for him, but in a more forced sympathetic way instead of a natural one.  Even Gary Sinise - who played Jeremy's father  - had more heartfelt moments and provided the most powerful line in the film.  And this is coming from someone who knew of Jeremy Camp's story and the hope to see it done expertly on the big screen.

Telling the story of Melissa Henning-Camp and her struggle with cancer, "I Still Believe" provided Britt Robertson with her best performance to date, and also deals with Jeremy Camp's struggle with faith and trusting God through everything.

The Score: A-