Raised by evangelists, I normally don't find films about religion funny at all. Between flashbacks of my baptism in the Atlantic Ocean and post-traumatic stress from having to memorize all the books of the Bible (forwards and backwards --- that's right Revelation to Genesis and everything in between -- 66 in all, if memory serves) I normally run faster than Lot's family from Sodom and Gomorrah at the mention of anything with the word "Pastor" attached.
Soooo, I was pleasantly surprised when I found myself happily locked into my seat for the duration of Edwin Marshall's "Pastor Shepherd." As an industry veteran, my normally jaded filter was wiped clean by the naiveté with which our hero approached life. Not since "Forrest Gump" has a character's purity of spirit so captivated an audience. His journey as he cares for his prescription drug and televangelist-addicted mother, applies himself diligently to his dare we say... morbid? profession, and struggles to communicate with those in his small world, has us cheering for this unlikely hero. "Pastor Shepherd" hearkens us back to a time when innocence was cool. And I think that's pretty darn neat.
Soooo, I was pleasantly surprised when I found myself happily locked into my seat for the duration of Edwin Marshall's "Pastor Shepherd." As an industry veteran, my normally jaded filter was wiped clean by the naiveté with which our hero approached life. Not since "Forrest Gump" has a character's purity of spirit so captivated an audience. His journey as he cares for his prescription drug and televangelist-addicted mother, applies himself diligently to his dare we say... morbid? profession, and struggles to communicate with those in his small world, has us cheering for this unlikely hero. "Pastor Shepherd" hearkens us back to a time when innocence was cool. And I think that's pretty darn neat.