Echoes of Innocence

Echoes of Innocence (Director: N. Todd Sims)

This is Sims' first production. The movie is being distributed as a digital theatrical release, meaning it's being shown via the Digital Content Network, or the infamous "Twenty." Most people who read this will never see it, or have even heard of it. That's where I come in.

Christian entertainment is, for the most part, really bad. "The Simpsons" lampooned the Left Behind series last season--the characters are broadly-drawn, their lives take a decided downturn should they not stick to Christian ideals, virtue always wins. Good message, although not entirely realistic. But that's not the problem with this movie.

Sarah (Sara Simmonds) is a virgin. She has been branded an outcast by this distinction, in fact has received a Junior High beatdown because of it. Now in High School, she's just a weird girl who sits in the back of her classes, being called "The Virge." Her thoughts are always with a boy she made a marriage pact with 5 years ago who mysteriously left one night. Due to her devotion she has kept her promise to remain untouched by men until the agreed-upon date of her 18th birthday. Problem is, she hasn't heard from her true love in months, and there's a new boy in school, Dave (Jake DcDorman), who she starts to fancy. Ah, what a dilemma! Big problem #2: There's a serial deflowerer in school named Alec (Matt Vodvarka) who wants to taste the sweet nectar of another virgin conquest--who upon getting turned down starts to think about blowing up the school.

What a disjointed, horribly-conceived movie. There's no flow to the proceedings, there's no momentum going from one scene to another. There's no driving plot. The bad guy, Alec, is like Wile E. Coyote--plotting his conquests by pinning up pictures of them on a bulletin board, marking and slashing those pictures like it means something, plotting destruction through self-drawn diagrams. I'm surprised we don't see a sign that says, "Genius at Work," on the outside of his room. But also, he's such an in-and-out character, everything he does is a total afterthought. We have the psycho-bitch mother who we're supposed to believe Sarah still has a soft spot for despite the constant accusations that she's in fact a whore. There's the best friend Beth (Natali Jones) who we can't believe is actually a best friend--she seems like she enjoys the company of a man and a good drink now and then--what is it that makes these two friends? How is it that Sarah is religious even though no one in her family is? I'd like to know where she discovered her interest in it. Then there's the whammy ending. Ha!

This isn't exactly setting the religious community on fire or anything--there have been very few people to come see this, so there's probably not much interest in my review of it--but since I'm seeing anything that comes to my theatre, it gets the full treatment. I'd just like to know how movies like this are made. I know they're cheap, but come on...give the audience something.