Jim Caviezel champions a Sound of Freedom: Movie Review | Oakville News | Tyler Collins:
July 8, 2023 - "In an especially strong summer at the multiplex, it’s a genuine surprise to have an adult, biographical drama with minimal marketing and a prominent social justice mission to be making the (mostly welcome) headlines it has. That’s the surprise in Angel Studios’ Sound of Freedom: somehow, one of Hollywood’s smallest movie studios has produced the first true sleeper hit film of the year, ... worthy of its quickly growing praise among audiences.
"The film’s real-life subject matter is harrowing to say the least - the film is a biography of real-life former U.S. Homeland Security agent Tim Ballard (Jim Caviezel) who leaves his agency job to begin special operations to free children who have been kidnapped, enslaved, and forced to work in the sex industry.
"Sound of Freedom primarily succeeds because the lead creative team are handling the uncomfortable subject of modern child abduction and sex slavery with the sensitivity and urgency it requires. It’s a deeply uncomfortable plot that’s handled with great care and an appropriate respect for the discomfort audiences will feel. This is the most effective Hollywood film to address the subject, with director Alejandro Monteverde effectively galvanizing action from the audience....
"Angel Studios is known for making faith-based movies, but there’s balance in showing the drama and maintaining plot suspense with Tim’s faith-based character motivations to rescue the children he does. That’s also an accurate reflection of the real man the character is based on....
"[A] large amount of the film’s box office success over the last few days is attributed to heavily skewed right-wing audiences who were advertised to on extremist American news outlets in the marketing campaign. Don’t mistake the film, however, as propaganda: it’s a balanced story with a deeply moving and necessary message....
"[T]here are some brief moments of on screen distress, .... [and s]ome of the statistics shared about child sex trafficking at the end of the film are stirring and hard to watch, but it’s never so heavy-handed you’re forced to look away.
"Other than the slightly too-long run time and pacing, Sound of Freedom is a well-crafted drama that deserves to be seen in theatres. This is one of the year’s biggest surprises, worthwhile for not just faith-based viewers but all adult audiences."
Read more: https://oakvillenews.org/reviews/sound-of-freedom-movie-review/
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