The Shack: Blu-ray Review
The Movie:
After a family tragedy, Mack (Sam Worthington) spirals into a crisis of faith and questions God’s existence and life’s purpose. Mack is unable to move on, until he gets a mysterious invitation to an abandoned shack. There, God reveals Himself in the form of three strangers led by Papa (Octavia Spencer). Mack’s journey will transform audiences of all ages.
There’s no shortage of religious movies out there but you’ll probably find most of them on the Lifetime or Hallmark Channel. This one however is a bit more high profile given the cast and budget. From the moment that this film started I knew that it was going to hit me kind of hard. As a parent, anything that has to do with family tragedies really gets me but the fact that this took that situation and created a journey for the main character is what grabbed me the most. Worthington surprised the hell out of me in his performance mainly because I was able to feel his pain as well as his resentment of faith. Spencer gives such an uplifting and eye opening performance and has great dialogue with Worthington’s character. So much so that my eyes started to sweat and it hit me like a punch to the gut. This may not be the best film out there but the message is one that can (and most likely will) hit home for many people so I think that it’s definitely one to watch. 7/10
Special Features:
Touched by God: A Writer’s Journey – A really good profile piece on the author of the source material.
God’s Heart for Humanity – This feature looks at the different interpretations that people have of religion.
Something Bigger Than Ourselves: The Making of The Shack – A pretty good feature with the usual interviews with the cast and clips of the film.
Premiere Night: A Blessed Evening – A performance by Hillsong as well as a few interviews.
Deleted Scene – Only one scene here that is pretty decent to watch BUT the fact that there is only one iss actually fairly impressive. That means they used pretty much all that they shot.
“Heaven Knows” – The Power of Song with Hillsong United
Audio Commentary with Director Stuart Hazeldine
