Bad, Good and Important

This week’s review is for Sound of Freedom. There is so much to unpack here that I many need to split it into a couple of posts. I’ll do my best to keep it movie-focused. We’ll see how it goes.

I’ve been told that I have a habit of ‘over-thinking’ things. That’s fair, guilty as charged. But, in a world that has conditioned itself into self-distraction, I’ve come to believe that this is a net-positive thing. I sleep like a rock, if that is any indication.

It’s also fair to say that movies allow us all a very necessary escape from an increasingly troubling (and troubled) world. Sometimes the escape route leads to bad places (and if you think it can’t get worse than ‘Human Centipede 2’, you’re fooling yourself). Sometimes they remind us to be bold or of the personal growth that we can and should aspire to (most recently, Top Gun: Maverick). And sometimes they snap us out of ourselves and remind us that there is a world beyond our small circles of self. Those are movies that I deem important. There’s an irony there.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Jim Carrey…

I was already on-board with seeing Sound of Freedom because I’m a big fan of Jim Caviezel. Everyone touts Count of Monte Cristo (my favorite period piece) and Passion of the Christ (an important movie that still convicts me). Don’t overlook Frequency (time-travel done on a personal level co-starring Dennis Quaid). I like Caviezel not just because he chooses quality projects or that he is, by all accounts, a morally conscious Christian guy. His acting style is kind of the anti-Jim Carrey, understated and full of ethos. That’s really necessary, especially in a society that normalizes excesses.

Sound of Freedom is closely based on the real-life events of Tim Ballard, a former DHS special agent who works to battle child sex trafficking. Through Ballard’s experiences, he developed a soul-deep burden to do more for the meekest and most innocent among us than the US Government would allow. He eventually gave up everything (including a big chunk of his pension, a mere 10 months away) to embark on a quest to rescue the sister of a trafficked child that he also saved.

This movie deals with pretty much the weightiest topic you can imagine, and it does so in the most responsible way possible. It doesn’t graphically depict the absolute horrors that men (and women) inflict upon the innocent. It mostly takes the route of us watching their emotions as a human views the evil that exists in a ‘modern society’…think audience reaction videos from the ninth level of hell. Jim Caviezel gives us a tragically perfect portrayal that will (and should) haunt you.

This review falls utterly short of describing the depth of sorrow that this movie illicited from me. Likewise, I am certain that the movie itself falls utterly short of describing the torment endured by those least deserving of it. My heart breaks, and I am changed by this movie. Anyone who could see it and not be changed has a brokenness in them that desperately needs attention. Please don’t ignore that.

I have long maintained that some movies are bad, some movies are good, but very few movies are important. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is one. I think the Adjustment Bureau is another. The aforementioned PotC. And Sound of Freedom is also, if only to call us to action.

I think you can guess by now that I am highly recommending this movie. It would be a great watch if it was fiction. The fact that it isn’t is beyond mesmerizing. I’m giving it 4.8/5. Don’t wait for it to stream. There is a quality you get in a theater experience that you can’t get from your couch, not the least of which is that there are no distractions. Sound of Freedom deserves your undivided attention.

And a special note- Austin Burke is a YouTube movie reviewer. He also gave Sound of Freedom high marks but said he could never watch this movie again. I implore everyone to do just the opposite. Rewatch this periodically. Let the selflessness of Tim Ballard (and everyone at Angel Studios, as I hear) infect you. Pushing this movie out of your mind, finding new things to distract you from the ugly truth of it, is not good for any of us. And certainly not for those that need us.

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