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While critics in the religious media haven't yet caught up with it, mainstream critics are expressing disappointment with The Caveman's Valentine. The film was directed by Kasi Lemmons, whose debut Eve's Bayou was a critical favorite in 1997. Samuel Jackson stars as Romulus, a homeless man with an erratic and disturbed mind who begins stitching together the pieces of a murder mystery. "Mr. Jackson couldn't be better," says Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times, but he frowns upon the film as a whole. "The fine performances and the direction aren't sustenance enough; the mystery feels undercooked." Stephanie Zacharek of Salon agrees, saying the film "doesn't hang together tightly enough as a thriller, and it isn't stirring enough as a psychological portrait of a damaged person." But Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times defends the movie. "The engine that makes the story live is in the life of Romulus: in how he survives, how he thinks, how people see in him what they are looking for. To watch Samuel L. Jackson in the role is to realize again what a gifted actor he is, how skilled at finding the right way to play a character who, in other hands, might be unplayable."

Critics in the religious media may not have caught The Caveman's Valentine because they were all lining up to see a religiously funded film about a boxer. And they came out singing its praises.

Carman: The Champion is the big-screen debut of televangelist/gospel-singer-sensation Carman. Michael Elliott at Movie Parables writes that director Lee Stanley "keeps the action moving and is adept at framing the fight scenes. The real success of the filmmakers, however, is how they avoid the trap of overt proselytizing which has been the downfall of other Christian projects. The story stays in the forefront of the film, which keeps the audience involved and interested." Preview raves as well. "This engrossing drama delivers Hollywood glitz mixed with danger and romance." Holly McClure at The Dove Foundation also cheers. "This is a real winner! A feel-good story with just the right amount of faith and heart! This movie has touching moments, a great soundtrack, excellent fight scenes, and if parents want to take older kids to see this modern-day-hero, it may make for some great discussion afterwards."

Matthew Prins, who often writes for The Christian Century and The Film Forum, raises questions about the value of the story, which involves a retired fighter (Carman) being forced back into the ring by a bunch of crooks. At the OnFilm eGroup, a discussion list regarding Christian perspectives of contemporary film, Prins writes, "What lesson have we learned from the story? Carman was put in an impossible position to say 'no' to the fight. Carman is never put in a position where he has a true moral dilemma, which makes him a pretty blah protagonist." But this viewer too noticed the lack of preaching. "I was surprised that O Brother, Where Art Thou? contained more explicitly religious moments than The Champion." Whatever the case, Focus on the Family declares that the film is "exactly what the world needs more of. Films that depict godly men dealing with real life situations."

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March (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45