MMM Note: Freetown could be playing in a theater near you - if so check it out!
Freetown delivers a miraculous missionary story with cinematography and music that transport you to Africa. If you enjoy faith-based movies, you’ll enjoy Freetown. I found the story remarkable, watching as the group of six missionaries make their way in a small sedan, driven by a local church member on unpredictable dirt roads, through several rebel-held check-points, across Liberia to Freetown, Sierra Leone. A mix of quick thinking and divine protection help them escape danger and safely make their way to the mission president’s home amid a civil war. Much of the story takes place as they travel in the car, making the film seem a bit claustrophobic, even though wide-angled countryside shots give you a good sense of the beautiful African landscape. I felt like some of the acting could have been stronger, and my nine year-old son asked a couple of times for a translation of what was being said due to the strong African English accents. Still, the film is well-made and the message of good Christian living is certainly worth two hours.
by Pete Busche:
The film Freetown tackled intense subject matter and relayed important messages about faith, doubt, and race. It's encouraging to see filmmakers seek to create or recreate authentic Mormon stories, of which Freetown was a great example. The story in this case was an important history, probably wholly unfamiliar to the audience who will see the film (American Mormons?). The acting was certainly amateur and leaves one wanting for more believe-ability at times. However, it is felt far more genuine to have African actors in a believable setting (hopefully gone are the "Testament" days of "dark-skinned" people being played by white actors with too much tanning-oil) which felt overall more "real" than the run-of-the-mill Mollywood film.
The film presented the theme of cognitive dissonance as relating to the tribal violence in Liberia, as well as within the LDS Church's history. With the recent surge of membership in Africa, the Church's Priesthood ban for African descendants will have to be addressed. One of the missionaries in the film provided this explanation: we all make mistakes; even prophets and institutions, and all have need of Christ's Atonement: God rejoices in our repentance, regardless of who we are or what we did in the past.
As one who listens to more soundtracks than movies, I was disappointed in Robert Elliot's work in this film. I enjoy his style: he fits in with the major prolific contemporaries like Hans Zimmer, Alexander Desplat etc. and worked wonders with creating the anxious, unsettling mood in The Saratov Approach. Freetown required a much different tempo, style, and mood-based on the subject matter. Elliot relied in similar musical patterns (even used redundant chord progressions from The Saratov Approach), and didn't quite make the necessary change I would've hoped for.
by Theric Jepson:
I expected to be more thrilled than moved by Freetown. In fact, I was more moved than thrilled. The thriller aspects of the film are competent but not extraordinary. What is extraordinary is the sense of hope and joy the film imparts in balance to the despair and danger. And make no mistake: even though we expect the miracles the missionaries promise and all bloodletting is done offscreen, the reality of the violence and death and finality that was Liberia's civil war is utterly plain. One of the smart choices of the script is making the protagonist someone other than a missionary. Henry Adofo who plays Philip Abubakar is a powerful lead. He teeters between being a nobody and a hero---or, in other words, he's fully human and accepting of that. Something about being twenty and wearing a black tag that Broadway doesn't understand is the attendant joy of being nothing, and how being nothing leads to complete reliance on God and the ability to see all things as possible. Abubakar doesn't have the luxury of a black tag to render him nothing. Sure, death is no more real to him than it is for the missionaries, but he feels the weight of death differently, being the only adult in the car (which may be why, in the end, it will be his faith that's necessary if they are to survive). The film presents language intelligently, as we should expect when the words are penned by AML Award-winning playwright Melissa Leilani Larson. The film's score by Robert Allen Elliott is likewise suitable and intelligent. The problem is that these two strengths can bump into each other. Sometimes, what Freetown really needs, is some more faith in silence. That said, I think the best way to enjoy the film is to take a crowd to the theater. If it makes it to the East Bay, I plan to invite a lot of people. This is a movie that should be experienced communally.
by Scott Hales:
The story FREETOWN tells is compelling. While it is based on true events, I admit that I have no clue where it takes liberties with history. Were the missionaries really hunted by a vengeful rebel? Did the ending really happen the way it's portrayed in the film? I don't know and I don't think it matters. Freetown is a story that could happen. The characters are realistically drawn and the situations they find themselves in--including the miracles they encounter along the way--seem wholly plausible. It's an excellent follow-up to The Saratov Approach.
by Carrie Stroud:
I watched Freetown with my husband and 13 year old daughter. I would say that this film could be watched by those ages 10 and up, simply because it was a violent situation and although not gory, could trouble a younger child with so many guns. Although I hesitate to write this aspect, my family had a very hard time understanding the accent and in retrospect I think subtitles would have been helpful. It made it difficult to feel emotion when we were struggling so hard to understand each sentence. I felt like the character development was definitely lacking. The story itself is very powerful and it would have been nice to understand more background into their lives. With that said, my family agrees that the overall acting was well done and we felt great empathy for each person and situation.
