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The Second Chance Our rating: Your rating:   MPAA rating: PG-13 (for some drug references) Genre: Drama Theater release: February 17, 2006 by Sony Pictures Entertainment Directed by: Steve Taylor Runtime: 1 hour 43 minutes Cast: Michael W. Smith (Pastor Ethan Jenkins), jeff obafemi carr (Pastor Jake Sanders), J. Don Ferguson (Pastor Jeremiah Jenkins), Lisa Arrindell Anderson (Amanda Sanders), David Alford (Parker Richards), Henry Haggard (Sonny), Kenda Benward (Valerie), Jonathan Thomas (Tony), Calvin Hobson (Julius), Bobby Daniels (Mayor) Related: Talk About It/Family Corner

For about a dozen years—between the 1983 EP I Want to Be a Clone and the 1995 concert album Liver—Steve Taylor was the most energetic and unpredictable recording artist in contemporary Christian music. His cleverly-written, frequently satirical songs tackled political and cultural issues that no one else dared to touch, and they were absurdly funny, besides. His offbeat parables, like the one about the self-righteous ice-cream salesman who blows up abortion clinics, also got him into a lot of hot water with people who didn't understand the points he was trying to make. (No, Taylor was not in favor of bombings—quite the opposite.) Taylor was also one of the first CCM artists to produce music videos, and for some years he has talked about making a full-length movie.

Well, that movie is here now, and perhaps surprisingly, it is neither all that energetic nor all that unpredictable. Some Steve Taylor fans will approach The Second Chance with high expectations, but it probably works best if you don't come to it looking for a "Steve Taylor movie." The film does offer a critique of church culture, but without the absurdist satire; instead, it's a pretty straightforward story about two pastors who have almost nothing in common, except for their ties to a certain church. Pastor Ethan Jenkins (Michael W. Smith) is white, famous, and covered in the accoutrements of material success; while Pastor Jake Sanders (jeff obafemi carr) is black, not so famous, and works in the inner city. Naturally, there is friction between them, but as they spend time together, they come to a new understanding of each other—and along the way, there are opportunities for sermons, singing, and prayer meetings. It's like a Billy Graham film without the altar call.

Michael W. Smith as Pastor Ethan Jenkins

Which is not to say that there is no repentance or even conversion, of a sort, in this film. From the moment we first meet him, Ethan is portrayed as a self-centered glory hound who likes the good life and avoids the unpleasant things of the world—and we just know the story won't let him stay that way. His face is on the cover of his newest book, he has a best-selling worship album, he's often on his cell phone, he drives a terrific car, he locks the doors when prostitutes approach him in the street, and his expensive tastes prompt Jake to nickname him "Gucci." Ethan is also getting married soon, which gives him even more reasons to spend, spend, spend; and it probably doesn't help his spoiled-white-kid image that he has virtually inherited his success, as the son of a successful minister (J. Don Ferguson) whose comfy suburban church sponsors missions all over the globe.

However, Ethan is not entirely above shaking things up. His father's mega-church, which is called The Rock, originally grew out of Second Chance Community Church, an inner-city congregation now led by Jake; but the opinionated Pastor Jake is something of a loose cannon, so when he comes to The Rock to participate in a televised service, an elder advises Ethan to lead the congregation in applauding Jake's inner-city work, but to avoid letting Jake take the pulpit himself. Knowing that no one can describe what goes on at Second Chance better than the pastor who actually works there, Ethan ignores the elder's advice, and turns the pulpit over to Jake—who soon confirms the elder's fears when he tells the mostly white, middle-class, suburban congregation to "keep your damn money" if they can't bring themselves to come down and get their own hands dirty working for the ministry.

Jake (jeff obafemi carr) and Ethan take a stroll through the 'hood

The church's board of elders is not amused, and they blame Ethan for letting Jake take the microphone; so they "punish" Ethan, as it were, by sending him to Second Chance to "observe" how things are done there. And so Ethan becomes a "glorified intern," following Jake around as he interacts with the neighborhood's junkies, alcoholics, and gangsters. Jake finds this arrangement irritating, and he has little to no sympathy for his colleague when Ethan loses his possessions to local thieves and homeless people. But the two men do have some things in common, sort of—during their wayward youths, one spent time in prison, while the other spent time in rehab—and before too long, they realize they may even have a common enemy: namely, the board of elders at The Rock, which has been making plans for the Second Chance community without consulting it whatsoever.

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