I Still Believe (Movie Review)

By Benjamin H. Liles

          I believe we all have a story to tell, and some are easier to write than others. Yet, when it comes to re-telling someone else's story to movie I have to say it's best to keep things as close to reality than to make up things that never happen. In Jeremy Camp's life, he has found immeasurable faith, happiness, and a love to keep Jesus Christ front and center. I first heard of Jeremy Camp and his music as the music ministry of Petra was coming to a close.

          So to say that I'm a bit at odds about how to be fair enough and to say what I need to in the truth of love is that while I overall enjoyed this story I will not own the Erwin brothers version of Jeremy's life. At the beginning they would have us believe he fell for Melissa because of her smile, not for her faith. Jeremy Camp has said of his former wife, who died from ovarian cancer, and her faith:

               "I looked up [while playing] at one point, and there she was, just raising up her hands, just singing, like, abandon. 'No one else is around me. I don't care who's around me. It's me and Jesus right now.' And that's what kind of attracted me to her...she has a relationship with Jesus. And that kind of was the start of me going, 'Okay, who is this girl?'"

          Other discrepancies in the film that never happened: he breaks his guitar while grieving, when on his Live:Unplugged DVD tells exactly what he threw: a Bible. Also, where Melissa accepts Jeremy's marriage proposal the one time, she told him "No" multiple times before finally saying yes. He didn't outright join the campus music ministry that Jean-Luc La Joie was a part of; he was invited over time. He met future wife Adrienne while touring for his album Stay, not after what appeared in the film as a single performance somewhere.

          Aside from these minor discrepancies and certain casting decisions my rating of the film is B+ based on the overall story, the individual performances, and the message the Erwin brothers want to come across with the film. Do I absolutely give this film a fighting chance? I believe I did. There were certain things I liked and didn't like, but when you're being fair in a review you cannot always allow personal feelings cloud the overall message.

          Faith in this standpoint, of loving and following Christ Jesus, is utmost. Do they honor that with Jeremy Camp's story and with what happened to Melissa? I have to say yes to that, and at the same time I also have to say no as well. Those reasons have been stated due to inconsistencies with what Jeremy Camp has stated on his Live Unplugged album (I have yet to read his book). Otherwise, truly I stand by my earlier assessment: I will not own the movie, nor watch it again.