Blue Like Jazz

Years ago, I remember reading Donald Miller’s Blue Like Jazz. I remember feeling that this was the way I felt about my faith, that it was not so clear cut as so many people wanted to make it out to be. I recently downloaded the book again on my Kindle to read while I’m here in London. Why? Because I want to read it again before the movie comes out. Movie, you say? That’s the reaction of most people I talk to about it. Many do not even know that a movie is coming out. They may have loved the book, but have not heard a thing about the movie.

So, yes, there is going to be a movie.

When?

Well, this weekend depending on where you are. In Phoenix, San Diego, Chicago, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, New York, Portland, Nashville, and other cities across the country Blue Like Jazz opens on April 13th.

You can go to their website http://www.bluelikejazzthemovie.com to see if you can get tickets. If it’s not coming out this weekend where you are (e.g., Birmingham, Alabama; Columbus, Ohio) it is probably coming out next weekend. Go see it then.

Why?

Because Christian movies are not normally very good. A lot of them are trite, simplistic, and cheap. By comparison to Hollywood, Blue Like Jazz was still cheap (only $1.2 million cheap), but if it’s anything like the book, it won’t be trite or simplistic. The book really attempts to honest wrestle with issues of faith in a way that not many do. I hope the film brings that to life on screen.

There’s been a lot of drama surrounding the production of this film, as well. At first, it seemed like the project had failed and it was postponed indefinitely (even after Don wrote a book about making it). Miraculously, the Internet came to the rescue and the film got made. But recently, (long story short) many Christian movie industry elites (if you can speak of such a thing) have attempted to prevent Blue Like Jazz from reaching its audience. Sherwood Baptist Church’s (home of the Kendricks Brothers [Faceing the Giants, Fireproof, etc.]) Executive Pastor stated that anyone who worked on Blue Like Jazz would not be allowed to work on any of Sherwood’s films in the future. Supporters of October Baby (the anti-abortion Christian movie that just came out) worked to get the Blue Like Jazz trailer banned from running in front of their film. So, if you can’t think of any other reason to go see Blue Like Jazz, who doesn’t love controversy and an underdog story?

Why else should you go see it? Well, I can’t, so you should go see it for me. Being on the other side of the ocean put a kink into my plans of going to see it when it came out, as you can imagine.

So, go see it. It should be thought-provoking to say the least. Enjoy.

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