Saving Christmas

Plot synopsis:
The film starts with Cameron sitting on a chair by a fireplace and talking directly to the audience, telling them of his love of Christmas but saying the traditional Christmas imagery is "all wrong" and having "nothing to do with Christmas", and blaming atheists for trying to take the holiday away from Christians; he also suggests that Santa Claus is a Christian.
Kirk goes to a Christmas party at the house of his sister (played by Cameron's real-life sister Bridgette Ridenour). While there he notices that his brother-in-law, Christian, isn't celebrating like the others. When asked why he seems so sad, Christian says he feels the holiday became too commercialized and consumerist. Kirk tells Christian that he is wrong and starts reminding him of the stories of the Bible. Meanwhile, two guests at the party discuss conspiracy theories.
As Christian complains that several elements of Christmas, most notably Christmas trees, are not biblical in origin. Kirk tells him that Christmas trees were God's idea, since he made the trees. He also says that each tree represents a Christian cross, and suggests the audience to see a cross each time they see a tree. Kirk's brother-in-law is convinced by his arguments, but then starts complaining about Santa Claus for he sees him as an obliteration of Jesus and noticed that "Santa" and "Satan" have the same letters, but Kirk tells him that the original Santa Claus (before being re-interpreted by western culture) was actually Saint Nicholas beating up non-believers and people who did not believe enough, thus making Santa a good religious figure; his brother-in-law is now convinced that "Santa is the man".
Christian is now convinced of Christmas' faithfulness to its religious roots, and the two return to the party. Kirk then explains that the presents at Christmas represent Jerusalem, and that Christmas is "doing what God does", as he always gave humanity many gifts. He then suggests once more to bring back Christianity in Christmas for our children. His brother-in-law, as a gift for his wife, organizes the same night a hip-hop dance representing his joy of celebrating Christmas, leading to everyone dancing and partying together. Kirk then tells everyone to feast, and suggests the audience organize the best dinner possible for Christmas, but not to forget this is a celebration of God.

Tags: christian film

Review:
This seems like a post-hoc attempt to link the Nativity with the Resurrection.Cameron says frankincense and myrrh were "funeral spices." Although myrrh had been used in Egyptian mummification, frankincense was not, and both were much more commonly used as a sacred incense in Hebrew temples.He goes into detail about Saint Nicholas' life, presenting it as fact, but in truth very little is known for sure about him, and some Christian leaders openly suggest that he may never have existed.
One might expect more hilarity from Cameron in Saving Christmas, but Cameron actually intentionally tries to build a comedy here, and the result is an unfunny, unfocused, interminable mess.The film begins with an uncomfortable scene involving Kirk Cameron sitting in a chair, lecturing at the audience.
(Never mind the fact that ancient paganism predates Christianity.) "Last time I checked, God created the winter solstice!" is the type of asinine reasoning you'll hear from Kirk Cameron throughout the film.
Cameron's facts are both dubious and sparse, and his connections are spurious—but Christian is nevertheless invariably blown away by Kirk Cameron's apparently amazing insight.Perhaps aware that interminable lecturing on its own would be unbearable for an audience, the film provides characters with quirky personalities in an effort to break up the tedium.
Just when you think it's finally over, we see Kirk Cameron again, and he continues to lecture the audience—this time about how materialism is just fine, because Jesus came to us in a material body, after all.One gets the impression that Kirk Cameron actually started reading his own Bible, was disturbed by what he found (such as Jesus' instruction to "go sell your possessions and give to the poor"), and produced this film as a desperate justification for his own hypocrisy.At my theater, nobody laughed, and nobody stayed for the end credits.
"Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas" is a disjointed mess, structurally pathetic and morally bankrupt as we watch scenes interwoven with little coherency, dialog written and delivered in its most wooden form, and wonderful morals to teach our children, like "materialism is good." The film begins with Cameron sitting in a blatantly artificial living room, decorated with more Christmas lights and flair than Macy's after Thanksgiving passes, giving us an introduction to the film at hand.
He rambles on for about three minutes as the introduction sets the perfect theme for this film; it's a circumventing project that never results in a specific or thoughtfully-articulated point.We cut to a Christmas party held by Cameron's sister, where a Santa has been hired, the tree has been erected, the house has been decorated, a feast has been prepared, and everyone is in an incorruptibly cheery mood; everyone except Cameron's brother-in-law Christian (director Darren Doane), who is seen moping around the house before quietly slipping away to his car.
Kirk follows Christian and learns the materialism of Christmas bothers him immensely, as he watches kids beg for toys they won't play with in three weeks and parents max out their credit cards, giving way to the materials and the illuminating tree in the center of the room, and all while neglecting the baby Jesus in the manger, who is the ultimate "reason for the season."Cameron begins to initiate flashbacks to biblical times to "justify" why we have the Christmas traditions that we do.
Kirk meanders for about forty minutes, talking himself in incoherent and redundant circles, never addressing Christian's questions in a way that we can extract counterpoints or citing Christmas's Pagan and cultist roots (if you're going to show Saint Nicholas as a brute, at least address the backstory).Interjected in these ridiculously dry biblical flashbacks and in-car dialogs are exaggerated characters masquerading as likable people with personalities drawn so wide they are desperately unfunny.
If my plot synopsis sounds like it has not made any sense, then I have effectively lived up to the structure and the narrative pace of this particular film.Just by comparing the full-length film to its trailer, you can tell "Saving Christmas" was Cameron's last minute idea to cash in on the Christian cinema craze of the year.
However, Cameron blatantly contradicts his thesis when he states during the closing monologue that "materialism is good" because Christmas is about "God taking possession of a material body." Aside from ushering in a pathetic excuse for a moral at the end of a film about Christmas, the cardinal sins committed here run amuck: a sloppy narrative hodgepodge of biblical flashbacks, inept lecturing, and pointless filler clearly padding a small runtime, atrocious acting on all fronts, a desperate attempt at "staying hip" and keeping the attention of the audience by throwing in a hip-hop dance number, contemptible morals, and failure to address or even stick to a cogent thesis.
While I am sure that many Christians will think that this film was savaged because they are all haters, the fact is that "Saving Christmas" is an incredibly bad film.
The loser Kirk Cameron actually tried to falsify the rating for this movie here and on Rotten Tomatoes.Someone should tell him that lying and cheating are not acceptable Christian values.Someone should also tell him that he's celebrating a Pagan holiday.
The bible even confirms these facts yet Christians blindly believe that Dec. 25th is Jesus's birthday and no matter what proof is given to support this fact just the mere suggestion to this reality will label you an atheist at best or sacrilegious at worst.I did in fact watch this movie.
The movie opens with a Kirk Cameron monologue followed by a sad attempt at a James Earl Jones like narration on the history of Christianity and Christmas.
The continued use of narration by Kirk Cameron interlaced by his own opinions on the matters presented begin to wear thin on the viewer in such a way as to become annoying.It was a difficult road to continue to watch this movie to its conclusion.
It was highly predictable, highly annoying, and the continued forceful narration by Kirk Cameron drove rusted railroad spikes into my ears like a Toolbox Murders horror movie.I won't spoil the plot as there was none to spoil.
If you value your time, your sanity and you like yourself perhaps you shouldn't be so unkind to assault your eyes and ears with this predictable, over narrated, imitation docudrama.As a real Christian who does not follow the Pope, a Church, idolize any single person famous or infamous, I only follow my heart, my convictions, my love for humanity, my hope for peace and happiness for all mankind.If I could rate this movie .01/10 I would, and after watching this drivel I would wish that IMDb would allow us the option to rate 0/10..
All you need to know is that Cameron's message about Christmas is the opposite of what one would expect from a movie called "Saving Christmas."See, that whole "saving Christmas" storyline has been played out in kids' movies and Hallmark specials over and over again, and it's always about stripping away the commercialism and materialism and getting back into friends and family.Kirk does the exact opposite in this film: He CELEBRATES and ENCOURAGES rabid commercialism.
And worst of all, he even attempts to justify his materialism -- his greed and narcissism -- by claiming that's the good proper Christian thing to do.So if not from rabid consumerism, what is Kirk Cameron trying to save Christmas from?
From people celebrating, or even acknowledging the existence of, other holidays besides Christmas, from non-Christians celebrating Christmas, and from Christians celebrating Christmas any other way than the way Kirk Cameron believes you should.In short, this is eighty minutes of Kirk Cameron trying to cram one hundred pounds of his self-absorbed discount-salvation bull**** into a one-pound bag, slap "Christmas Spirit" on it with a label maker, and hopelessly attempt to cram it down your throat.Unless you are a raving fascist fundamentalist who only hasn't watched this movie because you are afraid of what will happen if you turn your 24/7 Fox News feed off, this movie is guaranteed to make you very angry.
I don't think anyone was expecting it to be like this with the random dance scenes, the stereotyped black guy, the stereotypical atheist, and everything else.And now here is an example of Cameron's crazy points about Christmas: -The Christmas tree is not Pagen, it is because Adam and Eve stole from the tree of knowledge and to make up for the original sin, Jesus returned the fruit which was part of man by hanging himself on a cross, which is made of wood which naturally comes from a tree.
I never thought a movie could be as bad as Battlefield Earth, until this was released.The movie starts of literally with no plot and from there it is just Kirk and his "brother" Christian talking in a car.
And it's not the message, itself - even those I know who agree with the central point Kirk's trying to make see the movie as doing more harm than good.As for that illicit ratings-inflating campaign, it appears to be bearing fruit.
Your persecution complex in a country comprised almost entirely of Christians is laughable and only further isolates you from those you hope to convert.Kirk Cameron could have made a movie that's actually about family and the true meaning of Christmas.
I'm making my own movie." This is less a movie about Christmas, Jesus, or anything else as much as it is about Kirk Cameron begging you to look at him as he twirls..
This movie is simply one of his more self indulgent tirades about the supposed removal of Christian themes at Christmas time and how we are all going to Hell.
You know I am not a religious man, yet I like most Christmas and even religious movies but this is the worst out of the horrifically bad 2014 lot.
And the worst sin: this movie is boring, tedious and free of laughs, no matter which way you slice it.The lesson learned: it can be mildly amusing to watch a five minute YouTube video about a deranged guy, but giving him 80 minutes of your live, that's simply not a good idea.
It was painful to watch but at least the idiots that try and say this is a good movie can't accuse me of not seeing it.Cameron has no talent and continues to spew this insane notion that Christianity is under attack.
You are a moron Kirk Cameron.Believe what you want but stop wasting money that could be used for much better purposes like feeding the hungry, or even better, buying hat for dogs, because that would be a much better use of the money.I'd say more about the movie but there is no point.
That's the style of absurd logic that happens in "Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas".I turned the damn thing off half way.
Cameron goes to great lengths to explain away holiday traditions like a decorated tree and gifts, but the audience will be far too distracted by the weird bunch-ups in Doane's Christmas sweater, and his weird, pause-filled delivery that will make you think he's some kind of serial killer.
A question I kept thinking as I somehow went through Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas was 'how is this even a movie?' In the interest of full disclosure I have to admit I didn't go into this expecting it to be very good.
I think also the idea of, frankly, Christian nutter Kirk Cameron going on about the War on Christmas made me wonder if he would make it a screed against those who would denigrate the most sacred of holidays...
Here's where it gets weird: Cameron basically spends the rest of the movie, in really shoddy voice-over over "scenes" showing things like what the swaddling cloth the Baby Jesus was covered with and Christmas trees and Santa Claus actual mean and how they're "REALLY" connected to the Bible.
Other times, like the 'recreations' of what Cameron is preaching about in the car, it looks like they didn't have enough money for things like other actors to play the parts - I can't be sure but it looks like Kirk was "Bad" Santa in a couple of key shots - and on sets that look like they filmed on a stage in a high school auditorium.
Oh, and there's a hip-hop dance sequence that pads out the run-time for what is essentially a LECTURE by Cameron, padded by the token characters and Christian the Straw-Man, and funded by a fundamentalist university.If you watch this and believe this stuff, I feel sorry for you.
There's not enough time or space to cover all of it, so I'll just share the main reasons why anyone who loves Jesus, His Word and His people should or would never watch this mockery of Christmas."Saving Christmas" is in direct violation of Romans 14:5-6 and 22-23, twists Scripture, reconstructs history and encourages gluttony.There's nothing in this film that is "wholesome" and good for anyone, believer or non-believer.Let's save others from Kirk and crew's version of Christ's first coming and celebrate (if your conscience allows) with reverence, awestruck wonder and with the true and great joy that envelopes all who are humbled by and grateful for God's most amazing Gift--Jesus Christ, the one and only Son of God.http://www.sunnyshell.org/2014/10/kirk-camerons-saving-christmas.html.
In this movie, Kirk Cameron shows us that the best way to get get the world to hate you is to judge and hate people who are different from you.
Like Kirk Cameron, the key is to make sure you let everyone know that your judgmental and hateful behavior comes from Jesus and the Bible.
The point of the movie was to attempt to convince folks the true meaning of Christmas without showing sincerity what so ever.The actors were just simply not believable.
Anyone who has seen any of Kirk Cameron's previous pseudo-films, which generally consist of a sort of Christian apologetic aimed at the grammar school crowd, may think that they know what to expect with this latest offering, and they would be right.
However this film broke my spirit and has caused me to not only reject my faith in God but in humanity all together.Each scene is worse than the last as Kirk Cameron uses the first portion of the film gathering wood, nails and a microphone to construct what will be int he second half, The worlds largest soap box.As a former pastor I once sat for a 5 hour sermon and still think this film is more preaching than that.When the film ended two thoughts crossed my mind, One was the strangely absent 'That's All Folks" Looney Toones ending and the second was a written apology and or refund of my money.Don't watch this film, ever, don't subject your family, friends or even stray animals to this picture.Kirk may be trying to silence the critics but the reality is this movie is so horrid so void of content and character that it may induce suicide in the depressed.In summation a 0 ratings needs to exist on IMDb because giving this long winded rambling non non sequitur a 1 is giving it too many stars..
Sadly any forth grader with access to a library, or even just Google, can discover this isn't true.Cameron uses terrible acting and transparently obvious preachy propaganda to make what surely must be the most banal Christian movie ever.I'd rather have my internal organs liquefied by flesh eating viruses, than have to watch another second of this crap.It it was JUST boring as hell, or JUST transparent propaganda, or JUST full of 'lies that are OK to tell because it's in service of my religion', then would be a bad, yet forgettable religious infomercial...
Cameron caused a backlash with what he said was done by "atheists." It's not just atheists, it is also Christians that know better than you, Kirk!Instead of making a movie about Christ in Christmas, get somebody who knows their stuff to do a documentary on the subject..
Because Saving Christmas fits the bill, I've given it that rarest of honors.When Kirk (Kirk Cameron) sees that his friend Christian (Darren Doane) isn't enjoying Christmas, he sits down with him to explain away his concerns about the holiday.I once saw a movie called Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny that was worse than Saving Christmas.
Much of the movie consists of Cameron explaining to his friend how different traditions had Christian meanings all along, such as Christmas trees representing Christ's cross, presents representing city skylines, and snow globes representing nativity scenes.
The only black character with a speaking role, Diondre (played by a man named David), is a jive-talkin', hip-hop-lovin' DJ who fits just about every stereotype you would expect of a man in this kind of movie.The worst part of this film, both onscreen and off, is Kirk Cameron himself.
What am I even talking about at this point?Saving Christmas is among the worst movies I've ever seen.
Kirk Cameron claims to be a Christian but he must of flunked Sunday School because he gets many facts wrong in this stupid inept film.
Kirk Cameron is using this cash grab to preach prosperity gospel and collect money in the most uninteresting way possible.The acting is abysmal, the morals spit in the face of Jesus's teaching, the lighting sucks, the sets are terrible and there seems to be no logic in terms of scene structure, direction, writing, and horrible humor only a rock could laugh at.This film is cheap crappy and not worth your time.
The last 20 minuite are just a terrible out of place dance scene and some Kirk cameron narration that takes place way too often throughout the movie.
Saving Christmas is a 2014 ostensibly Christian-oriented Holiday film starring Kirk Cameron.
Kirk Cameron is known for producing great movies and people have a certain expectation from his films.
It's a lot better than "Bad Santa" or some of the other terrible Christmas movies I will not let my kids watch.