Movie Review - To Save a Life

by Alex Popp



Some people are just dying to be heard.

The most popular kid in High School feels like he's got the whole world at his feet until a childhood friend commits suicide in "To Save a Life."

The teenager had everything. He had a beautiful girlfriend, he was the champion in basketball and beer pong, and everyone loved him, but now after the death of his friend, he is forced to ask himself "Could I have saved him?" As he sets out to find out how he can stop others from doing the same, he gets acquainted with a local church and begins to have a change of heart, and it all leads to very surprising results.

This is definitely the kind of movie that should not have famous actors, and most of them are unknown except for Sean Michael Afable from "Akeelah and the Bee."

I was there when the whole youth group saw it back in February. The great thing was that I hardly knew anything about the movie until I saw it, and I was completely blown away. In fact, it's part of the reason I went to Reaching: Seattle. This film is so influential; it gets you waking up to the fact that there are some people who are literally dying to be heard.

By the way, if you search this title on the Internet Movie Database, you'll see all the data under "Fun Stuff," such as trivia, goofs, movie connections and quotes, which are, believe it or not, all posted by me.

Rated PG-13 for mature themes involving suicide, drugs, sex, partying and other bad teen habits, but should be seen by all teenagers. The rating is necessary, though it never gets anywhere near as bad as R-rated comedies. Focus on the Family even made a remark in their review that suicide, alcohol, sex, teen pregnancy, divorce, drugs, cutting, and hypocrisy aren't usually things they would list under positive elements. In this extraordinary flick, all this sin is dealt with in a Christian way.

Four stars (out of four) for the extraordinary and influential "To Save a Life," bound to be the best of 2010. I doubt even "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" is going to beat it.

Review by Alex Popp for The Animation Empire blog.