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5. Pastor Ethan says The Rock's television ads should be more "personality-driven", so he puts footage of himself into one of them. Is there a place for celebrity in the church? Is it okay for ministers to promote themselves while promoting their message? Can it be avoided? Should it be?
   
   
6. Do you think Ethan's father does the right thing, in the film's final scenes? Is there anything else he could have done?

The Second Chance is rated PG-13 for some drug references. There are roughly a dozen bad words of the "hell", "damn" and "a--" variety. Several scenes involve gangsters and the threat of violence. Characters also discuss topics like prostitution, abortion and gambling.

Photos by Katherine Bomboy

© Peter T. Chattaway 2006, subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

Should Christians make movies about the challenges facing the church? Should they let people outside the church see these movies?

That's one of the issues dividing Christian critics regarding The Second Chance, a film written and directed by former Christian rock artist Steve Taylor and starring Michael W. Smith and jeff obafemi carr.

Adam R. Holz (Plugged In) says its message is "right on the money" and it has the potential "to become a catalyst for positive personal and corporate change for those who have ears to hear … [The film] offers a realistic, provocative and unvarnished look at the issues of social, economic and racial disparities within the body of Christ. Raw, unapologetic honesty and grittiness … characterize the film which pulls no punches as it addresses hard subjects those of us in the church are sometimes tempted to brush under the rug."

But other Christian film critics would prefer to keep that subject "under the rug."

Willie Magnum (Christian Spotlight) starts out claiming that the filmmakers fail to "rise above TV series mimicry or movie of the week schmaltz and create a great film. The whole piece thumps along from vignette to vignette, eventually reaching a denouement that is nothing approaching climatic … What really bothers me about this film is that it really amounts to a 'dirty laundry' diatribe against the current mega-church bureaucracy that really, in the end, is an intramural debate and ought not be so scathingly aired in public."

Marc T. Newman (Movie Ministry) says, "While the makers of The Second Chance have some good things to say, they have chosen precisely the wrong venue in which to say them. … Themes of racial reconciliation can make for great film. Glory Road was a good example of a movie of this type. But when movies focus on church politics we cannot expect that many people outside the church will want to see such fare. And even if a few do, will they come away with the right message? Filmmakers who share a Christian worldview need to rethink the best way to use the medium to move the Gospel forward. One hint—it starts with a more compelling and accessible story."

Mainstream critics, meanwhile, are giving it mixed reviews.

Christian Hamaker (Crosswalk) says, "What the film lacks in cinematic style—and it does suffer from a TV-film feeling and mentality—it makes up for in earnestness, although, at times, the film is a little too earnest for its own good."

He concludes, "The hostilities and invective on display in The Second Chance set it apart from other films developed within, and marketed to the Christian subculture, but that's both a blessing and a curse. A blessing in that it shows Christians, warts and all, without demonizing them for their weakness and, at times, hypocrisy. But a curse in that the film's anger, particularly as it manifests in the character of a church pastor, is unpleasant to watch and hear. Nevertheless, there's a truth in the depiction, and the call to a sympathetic understanding of the different struggles within the larger church community override most of the bumps along the way."

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