Rating: PG-13.
Duration: 1 hr. 31 min.
Staring: James Remar, Dean Stockwell, Rauol Trujillo, Bruce Davison, Fred Thompson, David House, and many more.
Synopsis: In a world of inter-religious conflict, United States legislators are pushing for comprehensive reform in order to end factional hostility. But when affluential evangelist John Luther (James Remar) refuses to support such an ideal, obstructing the support that the "Faith and Fairness Act" needs, a powerful U.S. Senator (Bruce Davison) connives with Luther's own supporters in order to frame him for the murder of a teenage girl. Despite his innocence, a once nationally acclaimed devout figure is now a fugitive. On the run, Luther seeks to avoid persecution by exposing the truth for the sake of ultimately preserving Christianity in America from neutralization.
Writer's Review: If you are into dark, ominous films about the potential corruption of government, this is the movie for you. "Persecuted" allows its audience to experience a scenario where an attempt at a religiously utopian-like country can only be achieved through the most depraved of means, well, at least that is what I believe the director was trying to convey. Despite a promising storyline, the film fell flat in several aspects. One, the movie came off as rushed. The overall plot lacked depth and was rather choppy especially when it came to how Luther clears his name and why he does not support the legislation in the first place, which is the whole basis of the film. Two, similar to 22 Jump Street, there were way too many unnecessary characters causing the whole production to come off as rather watered-down. Lately, it seems as though Hollywood is resorting to simple threads in order to captivate a smartphone-immersed America, as too much complexity deviates from our lifestyle of easily obtainable information at the push of a button.
Writer's Grade: C
