'Believe Me': Review, Comedy's God Squad Inspires
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Miles Fisher, Alex Russell, Sinqua Walls and Max Adler star in Believe me a film about four broke college seniors who start a fake charity in order to embezzle money to pay for their tuition.
The film begins with the four hanging out in the kitchen. The complaints about all of work they have on top of the seemingly wild time make for a joyride of a film. Nick Offerman gives predictably funny performance as Sean the guidance counselor, though it is very brief.
"Life is difficult," is the phrase that sums the movie up perfectly. The film is about the difficulties of not being able to afford higher education.
Russell plays Sam, a student who is told that his scholarship expired one year before he graduated and that he needed to pay $9,000. While sitting in on a sermon he notices that the a group trying to raise money to travel abroad is doing so through the house of god.
Baffle by the way they are able to raise the money he begins questioning the idea as a way out of his loans.
The entire idea is purely farfetched but makes for quite the storyline. Sam pitches the idea to Pierce (Miles Fisher), Tyler (Sinqua Walls) and Baker (Max Adler). Tyler picks up on the idea right away and knows that he is being asked to steal from Christians.
Intrigued by the idea of earning a little extra money Pierce agrees. Baker doesn't understand it but he is in.
At this point they all give in way too easily for it to be "believable" but that is expected in a comedy of this stature.
Enter the love interest Callie (Johanna Braddy), who shows up at the first scam of the evening briefly. She seems to know a lot more about what the guys are doing than they realize. Ken (Christopher McDonald) enters to sponsor the tour with help from Callie.
The most predictable aspect of the movie follows the love interest. There is an antagonist in Gabriel (Zachary Knighton) who wants to expose Sam because he is moving in on Callie.
With Tyler being the only voice in the "God Squad" it would only be a matter of time until it became a conflict within the group. The important message in this film comes from the research it uses.
According to Pew's 2014 Millennial research, "The Millennial mind is not made up.
Millennials (now ages 18 to 33) are relatively unattached to organized politics or religion (three in ten have no religious affiliation), linked by social media, burdened by debt (average student loan debt is $27,000), distrustful of people, slow to marry--and optimistic about the future," as stated in a press release for the film's theatrical trailer.
The conflicts are real, though the storyline stretches this research into something completely unthinkable, the things that are addressed in the film are oddly real.
A struggle will push those to do anything to survive, decisions are made based on what is right for the one who is making them.
Being selfless is harder than being selfish in today's society because of the burdens faced by many today.
"Believe Me" is written and directed by Will Bakke, co-written by Michael Allen, produced by Alex Carroll and co-produced by Sandhya Shardanand, Gary Cogill, and Richard Toussaint. John Rutland is the director of photography with casting by J.C. Cantu.
This film is great for a moral adjustment as well as a good laugh.
There is also an appearance by Christian rapper LeCrae and music by Jack White. It is simple and not too long with just over an hour and a half run time for a pleasureful viewing experience.