The Shack (2017) (1 Viewer)

[Mike Frezon]

I'm surprised there's not already a thread about this film.

Peg and I went to see it this weekend. It seems to be closing its run as we saw it in one of the smaller local theaters (one of the few multiplexes still exhibiting the film). And there were just a few other small groups of people in the audience (mostly older couples--like us!).

As someone who was an enthusiastic fan of the book, I was curious to see how the material could be adapted to film. Turns out, it was a pretty faithful treatment of the source material...with just a few tweaks here and there. Some of those were sensible for the story-telling. A couple were disappointing in terms of impact on the content.

The cast--mostly unknown to me (outside of Sam Worthington, Octavia Spencer and Graham Green)--all did a great job. The film, which mostly deals with the questions raised of faith in God after horrible tragedy strikes, struck all the right notes throughout and never over-reached to be overly sentimental or maudlin. Like the book, it presented the material in a way which allows the viewer to think about their faith and ponder some of the deep questions which arise when life gets difficult.

Not once did I feel any awkwardness in how that material was covered. No inappropriate laughter by the audience, for example. That alone can be considered an accomplishment when dealing with these characters and material. But, actually, the film was quite moving at times and emotionally on point.

The screenplay left open some of the more "factual" aspects of the fiction presented in the book. That disappointed me. But I think most people who wanted to see a film which tackled some of these difficult issues (through the filter of Hollywood) won't be disappointed.

I'll be picking up the Blu-ray when it is released.

 

[Mike Frezon]

And even though I'm the OP, I should still stress if there are any comments to follow (I certainly hope there WILL be!) that we need to progress carefully and our longstanding rules on religious discussion will be enforced.

From our rulebook:

4. No politics or religion. We do not permit the discussion of politics or religion at HTF. However, there is a narrow exception to this rule. If the subject matter of a movie or television show includes politics and/or religion, then they may be discussed insofar as they pertain to that specific movie or television show. We stress, however, that such discussions are carefully monitored and will be moderated if it appears that any participant is using this narrow exception to introduce a broader political or religious discussion than is warranted by the movie or television show under discussion. Also, anyone who has not seen a particular movie or television show is disqualified from discussing its political and/or religious content under this rule.

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

I've not seen the film, but this is the kind of movie my wife enjoys so I will be picking it up when it comes out on Blu and it will likely be one of our Saturday Night Movies. Good to know you liked it, Mike.

 

[Tim Glover]

I read the book. It took me awhile to take my walls down and pre-conceived images etc...but i loved it. Very rich and a deep penetrating book.