Persecuted

Released by: Millennium
Released on: October 14, 2014
Director: Daniel Lusko
Cast: James Remar, Bruce Davison, Dean Stockwell, Gretchen Carlson, Fred Dalton Thompson
Year: 2014
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The Movie:

John Luther (get it?) is the Billy Graham of the modern era, America's most popular and respected evangelist. Because his word carries so much weight with fundamentalist Christians, the nation's Senate Majority Leader seeks his support for a bill that will require Christian ministers to provide equal time to other faiths, including Judaism and Islam. Luther refuses to water down his Bible-based principles and is framed for rape and murder by secret agents working for the president. While on the run, Luther must evade his pursuers long enough to prove his innocence. In the process, he inadvertently puts his own family, including his wife and Catholic priest dad (?), in harm's way—his wife at the hands of his most trusted assistant, who lusts after her, and his father the Father at the hands of the Secret Service.

Premise aside, the proceedings stretch credulity beyond the breaking point. For starters, the manner in which Luther is framed is jaw-dropping in its implausibility even before the viewer learns that someone just happens to be hiding in the nearby hills recording it all on a cell phone (an event that has little bearing on anything else in a narrative in which loose ends multiply like loaves and fishes). As Luther works to clear his name, every lame ruse he uses to avoid detection—pulling his hood over his face as the police pass by is a favorite—ought to be his last but instead manages to keep him from being discovered. He goes everywhere the police should be watching, begging for help but not receiving it, until the film stumbles to its obligatory, faith-affirming conclusion.

All that said, Persecuted is far from the least-entertaining entry in the Christian thriller genre. While it isn't nearly as amusing as the mind-bogglingly bad “inspirational” cinema of Ron Ormond—one couldn't get any worse, or any funnier, than 39 Stripes, If Footmen Tire, What Will the Horses Do?, and The Burning Hell—Persecuted is a decent time-waster if one doesn't take it as seriously as its intended audience will. The direction by Daniel Lusko, who also wrote and co-produced, is serviceable, and cinematographer Richard Vialet works miracles with the framing. The performances are also generally good. James Remar in the lead role seems a bit stiff, even for a minister, which is surprising given his bravura performances in a host of cult films from 1979 to today. Faring much better are Bruce Davison (yes, that one), Dean Stockwell (yes, that one), and former Republican presidential candidate Fred (Dalton) Thompson, all of whom play their parts with conviction. There's also a cameo by Fox News host Gretchen Carlson, showing off her acting chops with a solid portrayal of—wait for it!—a newscaster. On the other hand, Christian comedian Brad Stine as one of the baddies is a shameless hambone. One would be tempted to tell him to stick to his night job, if the film didn't provide a mercifully short sample of it.

Persecuted presents a half-baked, paranoid vision of an America in which many people actually believe they live, where the freedom of the Christian majority is forever imperiled by “led-astray” types with no grasp of the Supply-Side Jesus who is the foundation of our nation's Constitution. This is an America where tolerance for diversity is a threat, one whose president is the most inelegant doppelganger of Bill Clinton that one is likely to encounter outside of a South Park episode. The slant is unsurprising, of course, in a film that closes by giving Fox News, the Christian Broadcast Network, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and God's own ACLJ—the American Center for Law and Justice—special thanks.

Video/Audio/Extras:

Millennium presents One Media's production in a two disc set containing both a standard definition DVD and an MPEG-4 AVC-encoded Blu-ray in 1080p high definition. In both formats, the film is presented letterboxed at 2.40:1, approximating its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1. Naturally, the Blu-ray is considerably sharper than the DVD (though the DVD hardly looks bad) and contains so much detail that one can see both Gretchen Carlson's facial fuzz and Dean Stockwell's nose hair. (News flash for actors: with the digital age upon us, you should probably wax or trim before you shoot a picture.) Nighttime sequences don't fare as well, with some containing a heavy dose of noise not found anywhere else in the film. It's doubtful the transfer is to blame; the film appears to have been shot on high-grade digital video, which likely explains the image breakdown in those darker scenes. Because the film is placed on Blu-ray on a 25GB disc that requires more compression than a 50GB disc, Millennium wisely opted to include the extras only on the DVD.

The Blu-ray offers two audio options. The first is a lossless Dolby True HD track, the disc's default option. The second is a two-channel track. For viewers with a complete surround system, the default track is the one to go for. For those with a sound bar, there is little to differentiate the tracks. The DVD also presents two audio options: 5.1 surround and stereo 2.0. Again, the first is the default option and should be the option of choice. Both discs offer English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired as well as Spanish subtitles.

The DVD contains a plethora of extras. First up is an audio commentary featuring Lusko, Vialet, composer Chris Ridenhour, and editor Brian Brinkman. It's clear that the men sat down in a room together and watched the film as they discussed it, yet it never sinks to the mundane level of so many similarly conceived commentaries. The participants never talk over each other, while Lusko is in clear control of the conversation without dominating it. The men discuss everything from the film's score to the cinematography to the use of Christian symbols in the backgrounds of various shots. They also admit that Stine had a tendency to overact and had to be reeled in on more than one occasion and that Remar was ill during parts of the shoot, which might explain the stiffness noted above.

Next up is a making-of featurette. Clocking in at less than seven minutes, it moves briskly, focusing mostly on the characters, their motivations, and the story. As such, it repeats little of what is revealed in the commentary and provides insight into the actors and how they approached their roles. Interviewed are Remar, Natalie Grant, Thompson, Davison, James R. Higgins, Carlson, Jordan Sekulow, and Stine. Following the featurette is an interview with Lusko and Thompson that aired on a program for the Dallas, Texas-based religious broadcaster Daystar. As with the featurette, it clocks in at less than seven minutes, much of it consisting of Lusko's claims that the threats to Christian freedom presented in the film are coming true in the United States, hence the need for films such as Persecuted.

Also included is the trailer for Persecuted, as well as trailers for other inspirational films: Ragamuffin, Life of a King, and Home Run.

The Final Word:

Persecuted is far from the worst religious propaganda film ever made, thanks to decent direction and good performances from Davison, Thompson, and Stockwell. Still, it presents an unduly fearful vision of America, one out of sync with political and social reality. Millennium's presentation is a triumph, however, offering the film on both BD and DVD and giving fans a number of interesting extras.

Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!