Many “christian” movies aim to deal with subjects that they feel are relevant in today’s society. Some are successful, but fall short in the reality department. Others just fall miserably short all of the way around. To Save A Life does not. It is based around Jake Taylor, a high-school student who “has it all”. He is the star of the basketball team, he is dating the head cheerleader, he has a full scholarship to Louisville to play basketball. In short, he is living the dream life. All of this comes to stop when Roger, Jake’s boyhood friend, does the unthinkable. Roger comes to school with a gun, and pulls the trigger, ending his own life, in front of his classmates.
This isn’t where To Save A Life ends though. We learn, through a serious of flashbacks, that Jake and Roger were best friends growing up, and that Roger saved Jake from being struck by a car when they were 11. What follows is a journey that Jake never saw himself taking. After Roger’s funeral, Jake meets Chris, the youth pastor of a local church that Roger visited prior to his death. Jake’s spiritual journey deepens after his baptism, when he finds out that life isn’t always great when you are following God.
Content
In order to leave some of the movie for you to find out, I’ll end my synopsis there. However, I do want to give you a breakdown of some of the content in the movie
Social Issues:
Suicide, cutting, teen pregnancy, infidelity, divorce, hypocrisy (all of which are issues that most churches don’t deal with enough)
Language:
Two uses of a–, 5 uses of h—-, and one da–it
Initially I was a little shocked at their use of some mild profanity in the movie. But after finishing the movie, I don’t have a problem with it at all. I truly believe that it adds to the reality of the movie.
Sexual content:
We see Jake and Amy go into a bed room, and Jake removes his shirt, and they fall into bed as the camera fades. It finds them later with Amy getting dressed and a drunk Jake wanting “to do it again.”
Doug states that he is “banging Amy tonight” and then later calls her a “slut” repeatedly.
Drugs and Alcohol:
We see a number of teen parties that include drinking.
Denny, the pastor’s son, is seen smoking marijuana with other kids from the youth group.
Spiritual content:
There are a number of great lessons that can be learned from this movie, and its very obvious that its written from a christian perspective. My only issue is that they never mention Christ as the way to salvation. Although, I personally think that this movie is more meant to plant the seed so that it can be watered elsewhere. And I wouldn’t just tell a friend that wasn’t saved to go see it. I would invite them to go and see it with me.
Conclusion:
You really should go and see this movie. While it might seem like there is an effort to push every teen issue possible into the film, I believe that its appropriate, given the context. Life isn’t easy, especially as a teen. And its even less so when you include following Christ in the mix. I challenge you to invite your youth group, school group, friends, and even your parents and siblings to see this movie. Just don’t forget that its rated PG-13 for a reason. To Save a Life earns 2 thumbs up.
