When I was first offered the opportunity to watch the movie, Where Hope Grows, I was interested because of the title of the movie. I didn’t do any research about the movie, and only read what the little PR “blurb” said. Funny how God is always working in my life – not only did this movie contain “hope,” but it touched on things that are pertinent to my life.
A little background: The movie’s primary character is Calvin Campbell, played by Kristoffer Polaha, and at the beginning we learn that he was a former high school hero and former Detroit Tigers professional baseball player whose glory days were cut short due to panic attacks at the plate. After returning home nearly 15 years earlier, he is now struggling with the “curveballs” his life has thrown him. Calvin is a flaming alcoholic who is mindlessly sleepwalking through his days and struggling with the challenge of raising his teenage daughter.
Calvin’s life is clearly in a slow downward spiral when he meets and develops a friendship with the most unlikely person – a young man named Produce, who works at the local grocery store. While the movie doesn’t make it clear whether or not Produce is his nickname, nonetheless, Produce has Down syndrome and his positive attitude, his zest for life, and his kindness help change Calvin’s life forever.
Calvin slowly loses the chip on his shoulder as he begins to experience the world through Produce’s eyes. Faith, work, purpose and most importantly family, blossom into Calvin’s life as their friendship develops. The unlikely pair becomes intertwined giving Calvin’s life new meaning and purpose, but unfortunately leads to tragedy due to single decision echoed from Calvin’s past.
There seem to be a couple of other subplots going on with this movie – the first involves Colt, who is Calvin’s daughter’s “bad boy” boyfriend and the second involves his longtime friend, Milt, and a situation with his wife where it seems she is possibly cheating on him, although these stories are not the main crux of the movie. They do, however, all get tied together in the last half of this movie.
Fairly early in the movie, we see that Produce is an active churchgoer and he takes his Bible with him almost everywhere. Calvin, on the other hand, comes across as someone who lost his religion a long time ago.
Where Hope Grows embraces the idea that God works in mysterious ways while at the same time shows us that God helps only those who help themselves. Where Hope Grows is a story of finding redemption through faith, hope and love.
The DVD of Where Hope Grows arrives on Digital HD on August 11 and on Blu-ray™ (plus Digital HD), DVD (plus Digital) and On Demand August 25 from Lionsgate Home Entertainment.
The movie has received 5 out of 5 Doves from The Dove Foundation. The Where Hope Grows home entertainment bonus material includes deleted scenes, plus two featurettes that look at the casting of “Produce” and a discussion of the “R-word,” along with an audio commentary from writer/director Chris Dowling and actor David DeSanctis. The Blu-ray and DVD will be available for the suggested retail price of $24.99 and $19.98, respectively.
Overall, I enjoyed the movie, Where Hope Grows and didn’t find it hokey as I have found some previous Christian movies. The main plot was interesting and believeable and it had great twists. The movie did leave me with a couple of questions, one of which was this: where was the mother of the teenage daughter? My other question would be a spoiler, so I won’t share it here. I’d definitely recommend this movie for a great movie night for ages 12 and older.
I was provided with a copy of this movie from Rogers & Cowan without cost in exchange for my honest review and unbiased opinion.
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