In My Dreams; In Love with a Church Girl; the Hiding Place

I will be writing about three movies today: In My Dreams, I’m in Love with a Church Girl, and The Hiding Place.

1.  In My Dreams.

In My Dreams was the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie this past Sunday.  It is about a man and a woman who dream about each other after casting coins into an enchanted wishing well.  Will they find each other in real life?

This was an all right movie, I guess.  I think that the average Internet Movie Database rating of seven out of ten stars is way too generous, but the movie was pleasant to watch.  I was rooting for the man and the woman to find each other in real life, and, as one might expect from a movie like this, there are times when they are in the same place and just miss each other.

I had a slightly difficult time identifying with the main characters.  Their problem was not finding dates, for the man got lots of calls, and the woman got one.  Their challenge was finding the right person.  Still, each was dealing with some sort of burnout or malaise.  The man was recovering from his girlfriend cheating on him, and the woman was mourning the death of her mother, who founded the restaurant that she now owns.
The woman, Natalie, was sweet and pretty.  The man, played by Mike Vogel, who plays Barbie in Under the Dome, was an all right character, I guess.  I did not feel much after watching this movie, as I did after the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, Remember Sunday.  Still, it wasn’t bad.  It was just a bit hollow.

2.  I’m In Love with a Church Girl.

This was a 2013 Christian movie.  It’s about a wealthy ex-drug dealer named Miles, who falls in love with a devoutly religious girl, Vanessa.  Stephen Baldwin plays a gruff DEA agent, who at first is eager to take Miles down, yet roots for Miles from a distance as Miles attends church.  Martin Kove, who played the villainous Sinsei John Creese in Karate Kid, has a role as the cynical, moody leader of the DEA agents.

The romance between Miles and Vanessa was all right.  I somewhat liked Miles, who came across as a friendly guy who was loyal to his friends and cared for the people in his life.  Miles was stepping out of character by dating a church girl, and that was refreshing.  The fact that the Stephen Baldwin character was rooting for Miles to succeed in walking the straight and narrow was another plus to the movie.

The movie would have been much better had it stayed with the same pastor, however.  When Miles and Vanessa first attend church, Miles meets the pastor, who is dressed like a rapper and is played by the guy on whom Miles is based.  Miles is surprised because he never saw a pastor like this before!  The pastor shares with Miles his testimony and tells Miles that he hopes he will see Miles again.  But we never see this pastor again in the movie, and the pastor is replaced with a tall white guy in a suit and tie!  The movie would have been better had the rapper pastor mentored Miles.

3.  The Hiding Place.

This is a 1975 movie.  It is about the Ten Boom family, which sheltered Jews from the Nazis in Holland and later went to a concentration camp.  Much of the Ten Boom family died there, but Corrie was released due to a clerical error.  The Ten Boom family was devoutly Christian, which was why they sheltered Jews, stood up for human dignity before the Nazis, and even prayed that the Nazis might become receptive to God.  Corrie Ten Boom still struggled to love the Nazis, at times, which is definitely understandable.  One line in the movie is that God is deeper than any deep pit.  I would like to believe that, and perhaps the way that Corrie Ten Bloom did so was by leaving her questions with God.  I admire how the Ten Booms sought to trust and follow God and be a light in the worst circumstances.