There’s nothing typical about “The Grace Card,” a movie opening next week across the country.
Take the cast, for example. Most cast members aren’t professional actors.
Consider the production budget, which was a fraction of the expense of most Hollywood movies.
Look at the marketing, too. A key part of the strategy has been relying not on a big ad campaign or an appearance on “The Tonight Show,” but on church ministers and small group leaders seeing the movie and recommending it to others or even feeling inspired to book a theater andencourage guests to attend.
“The Grace Card” is the first movie from Memphisbased Gracework Pictures in conjunction with Calvary Pictures.
The film tells the story of how police officer Mac McDonald’s life changed in an instant when his son was killed in an accident.
He’s filled with bitterness and rage that erode his relationship with family and stonewall his professional career.
McDonald, who is white, is partnered with a black officer, Sam Wright, a rising star on the police force who’s also a part-time pastor. The movie’s themes include forgiveness, loss, race and reconciliation. And grace.
The film has a couple of local ties. Dr. David Evans, who graduated from Bentonville High School in 1986, is the director and the creative force behind the film. He’s actually an optometrist by profession, now living in Tennessee.
Evans’ son, Houston, who lives in Rogers, has a part and delivers a line in the movie.
Evans said during an October interview that he’s had a long-standing interest in theater and communicating matters of faith through drama. Since 1994, Evans has overseen the Easter passion plays at Calvary Church in Cordova, Tenn., where he is a member. He has worked to present a fresh message in the annual program by incorporating modern-day tales that parallel the story of Christ’s ministry.
Those experiencesprovided the starting point.
Then Evans saw “Fireproof,” a film produced in 2008 by Sherwood Pictures, a Christian film company associated with Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga.
The scripting and staging of Easter presentations was a kind of preparation, he decided, for bringing a story to the big screen. He quickly knew the story hewanted to tell.
He had written something for the Easter program titled “The Life Giver.” It told the story of two Memphis police officers with one of the central characters having lost a son in an accident.
“The Life Giver” became “The Grace Card.”
The film was screened in Rogers on Nov. 9 for some local church leaders and others, including the authorof this column.
The actors aren’t all professionals, but the cast is strong from top to bottom. Academy-award winner Louis Gossett Jr. and actor-comedian Michael Joiner turn in very solid performances.
“The Grace Card” script is a gritty story that deals with complex issues and doesn’t shy away from major questions about faith.
Memphis itself provided a powerful backdrop for the story’s message.
The film is set to screen at the Malco Towne Cinema 12 in Rogers and the Razorback Cinema 16 in Fayetteville, starting Friday, according to the website www.thegracecardmovie.
com. The movie is ratedPG-13.
FAITH & POP CULTURE IS AN OCCASIONAL COLUMN WRITTEN BY MEMBERS OF THE FEATURES STAFF OF NWA MEDIA. DEBBIE MILLER IS FEATURES EDITOR.
Religion, Pages 7 on 02/19/2011