Chasing Grace Movie Review

A few weeks ago when I reviewed Living Hope, I saw a trailer for the movie Chasing Grace . It looked like it would have a bit more action than some of your typical Christian movies. I was excited when I received an email just one day later asking me to review “Chasing Grace”.

About Chasing Grace

A tragic accident threatens to destroy a pastor’s family and sets into motion a complex betrayal between two brothers, while exposing secrets no one wants to face.

Pastor Jonathan Matheson lives in a world of black and white, yet finds a way to navigate the “grey in-between” to work to his advantage, while facing one of the most tragic moments of his life. Set in small-town America and woven inside a tale of redemption, “Chasing Grace” is a story of how one family takes on the burden of guilt in order to make sense of their loss. While pointing the finger of blame at his brother, Pastor Jonathan also chooses to hide from the truth while trying to escape his own personal demons. “Chasing Grace” is loosely based upon true events and provides a powerful story about the redeeming power of forgiveness.

Mom Maven’s Thoughts

I do my best to support the Christian movie industry. There are so many unsavory movies being made that I feel, as Christians, it is our duty to support the people who are making movies with a Christian worldview. Unfortunately, some movies just aren’t that good, and “Chasing Grace” is one of them. This movie has no rating but it should be PG-13 for violence, drinking, smoking and mature subject matter.

The biggest problem with “Chasing Grace” is there are too many issues to deal with in the Matheson family. At its core “Chasing Grace” is a film about forgiveness but that message is lost in the alcoholism, fighting, lying, family secrets, death, depression, police misconduct, and more. The story line is very convoluted with too much drama happening but nothing really moving the story forward. We were bored and my husband wanted to turn it off halfway through but I told him we couldn’t because it was for a review. “Chasing Grace” had potential but it totally missed the mark by bringing in too many different issues the movie has no focus and the message of forgiveness is lost amidst the chaos. When the forgiveness does come in, it comes too easily with no one being held accountable for their actions. I found it funny that the alcoholics just promised not to drink anymore and then everything was ok again. That is not how recovery works and it is a slap in the face to everyone who has dealt with an addiction to think that making one promise makes everything better.

Chasing Grace is available from Amazon if you want to check it out for yourself. Have you seen this movie? I’d love to know your thoughts and if you agree with our review.