Synopsis:

“The only way to truth is facts.” – Lee Strobel

This was something that Lee Strobel believed whole-heartedly. Lee was a successful, established journalist who believes only what can be proven through facts or what we can see, touch and hear. Lee has to have cold, hard facts before his opinion can be swayed, and his wife, Lesley, is the same way, until…

The opening to the movie begins with Lee accepting an award, and his family’s immediate celebration. Lee, his wife (Leslie), and daughter, Allie (Allison), go out to a restaurant as a celebration of Lee’s achievement. After dinner, Lee gives Allie money to purchase a gum ball as a “desert” for finishing her meal. Allie gladly accepts. However, things turn scary when the gum ball becomes lodged in her throat blocking her ability to breathe.

Calling frantically for help and panicking at their daughters inability to breathe, a nurse quickly comes to Allie’s rescue and saves the little girl’s life. A grateful Leslie profusely thanks the nurse, Alfie, and says, “I don’t know what we would have done had you not been here.”

The nurse, much to Leslie’s surprise, comments that it was a prompting from God that she came to the restaurant, and it was for the purpose of saving Allie’s life. Her words cause reflection for Leslie who is confronted with the reality that she almost lost her daughter.

Convinced that it wasn’t a coincidence, Leslie seeks out Alfie, who is a nurse at Mercy hospital, to learn more about this “Jesus”. Leslie’s skepticism quickly evaporates, as does her atheistic viewpoints, and she embraces a life with Christ.

Her enthusiasm is short-lived, however, as she discusses her “new life” with her husband who holds fast to his own views on religion. He vehemently disapproves of her new-found beliefs and finds himself unable to tolerate any form or mention of the Bible.

In his disgust and conviction that his wife is being brainwashed, Lee makes it his main objective to disprove Christ’s resurrection and bring his wife “back to reality”.

Can Lee actually disprove or cast a shadow on the resurrection? Will Lee ever accept Christ? If so, what will it take?

Positives:

Based on the book, The Case For Christ is eloquently written, and the acting superb! Viewers can expect to be drawn in right from the opening and remain captivated as the narrative unfolds.

Believers will chuckle at Lee’s tenacity as he proves through interviewing various sources that there is no God and chasing every thought he can come up with to argue against Christ’s resurrection as he attempts to “explain everything away” using facts. The beliefs that he holds are all of the disbeliefs/questions that most atheists have, and all of the arguments that he holds dear making this a powerful tool for witnessing because the atheist will be able to identify with Lee’s thought process.

Woven into the storyline are interesting historical and biblical facts, medical reasoning, and research that makes it interesting to both believer and non-believer alike.

Negatives:

The only negatives in The Case For Christ were numerous scenes where Lee was either drinking or drunk. Some scenes of him belittling his wife’s beliefs as he struggles to disprove her steadfast belief in something that he refuses to understand.

Additionally, there were scenes of cigarettes being burnt in ashtrays, but no direct smoking.

Overall, I completely enjoyed The Case For Christ. I loved learning about tidbits of history and facts that I never knew existed. I enjoyed learning about the society that Jesus lived in, the law, the psychology, and hearing each argument that Lee comes up with expounded.

The actors were real and relatable. They drew you into the storyline right from the beginning. It did not take long for the characters to be developed, and the backstory was woven in pieces throughout the movie which was useful in explaining the behaviours of certain key people.

As for family friendliness, I wouldn’t advise viewing The Case For Christ for really young children due to the drinking, smoking, and Lee’s outbursts as children may find it frightening. However, it is useful for older children as they can both use it to strengthen their conviction and defend it.

Both older children and adults will be able to comprehend and appreciate the material. Older children, especially, will learn from it.

Additionally, if you have friends that are unbelievers, or you are one yourself, The Case For Christ will definitely captivate your interest. Most atheists will not even be aware they are being witnessed to!

For further information on the movie, please go here.

Many thanks to Catherine Binkley from Lovell-Fairchild and Elle Morici from PureFlix for allowing us the privilege of reviewing this movie.