ManiakJiggy This is How Movies Should Be Made

Dotbankey A lot of fun.

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

lagudafuad The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry is a subtle movie, that goes ever so smoothly that you never miss a step, it is not filled with the action, and special effects that most believes is required to make a good movie. Here is a movie that just drives off at a pace that it keeps to the very end, driving its message of love and the efforts of one man, whose life was a total testimony of what Christ expects from us when he gave us the great commission.The movie has high ratings from critics, and that made me skeptical, wanting to stay away from it because I know that critics don't really like Christian movies because they see it as a source of propaganda. I felt, "here is a movie that they like probable the message is heavily watered down" but that was not the case in this movie, from the set go it started to preach Christ and it ended with Christ.The movie plot is about a 75 year old named Jonathan Sperry (Gavin MacLeod) in the 70s who befriend a 12 year old boy named Dustin (Jansen Panettiere) and his friends Albert (Frankie Ryan Manriquez) and Mark (Allen Isaacson). Jonathan during his time with the boys taught them about Christ, built them up in Christ and used them to touch the lives of those around them, from a bully to a lonely neighbor.The movie does have some little faults; the kid actors were all not in form, because the class of acting that they delivered was way off base. The adult actors on the other hand did a fine job. Then there is the setting and the dressing, it was said that the movie was set in the 70s but it looked more like the 80s to me, but that is my view. The movie directing was done Rich Christiano and the movie was written by him and his brother Dave Christiano. The two are the owners of Five & Two Pictures, who were also the producers of the 2002 Sci-Fi dramedy Christian movie Time Changer.Here is a Christian movie that many like, and it is for a good reason too, it talks about Christ, and the movie leaves an image in your heart, of a man who spent his life showing the love of Christ to as much as he canHere is a movie for you and the family.www.lagsreviews.com

debrastevens452 Heart-warming and funny. A golden nugget and light-spirited. Great message to grasp and lesson to be learned. Definitely one to add to my collection. Not your usual movie about bullies, and the secrets of an aged man. This movie is filled with lessons, teachings, messages and warnings. However, there is one overall hidden positive message/lesson that I wonder if anyone has or will notice, between "Dustin" and "Tanya". I really enjoyed this movie and recommend it. Actually thought about using it for a bible study or my own personal teaching for myself. I know I could get a lot more out of this movie than what I have already watching it 5x so far. Unfortunately anything without explicit scenes or tainted by the world's cynical view of everything is very rare in this day in age. Acting is mediocre, but if that's all one gets out of this movie, than sorry but you really wasted your own time with this one.

inkslayer There is no need to be intolerant or suspicious about The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry.If you're uncomfortable leaving your personal bias at the doorstep, and watching how others teach their children by example, then don't watch this movie.On the flip-side, if your children are not quite getting their Sunday school lessons, then this is a marvelous movie for them to watch. Because that's what The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry feels like, a Sunday school lesson.Jonathan Sperry doesn't teach anything out of the ordinary. If you don't want to be lied to, then don't lie to others. It's that simple. It's your choice. Do you need God in your life to follow these simple principles? No. However, some prefer that God be part of their lives.Jonathan Sperry acts as a guide to several young boys in his community. Sperry and the boys all belong to the same church – they all know one another. Jonathan Sperry practices what he preaches. He teaches the children by example; examples they can understand and put forth.We are a society with deep crevices of division – religious, societal, educational, race, and on and on. Sperry takes his little community and one by one, helps to fill those crevices. He passes on what he knows so that hopefully the division will become less and less. So when Sperry's wife dies in a car accident caused by neighbor Mr. Barnes, played by Robert Guillaume, does Sperry hire OJ's powerful lawyers and sue? Does he lament on a daily basis? Does he forever point his finger? Does he cry "poor me"? Nope. He kills Mr. Barnes with kindness. Why? Because Sperry needs to feel better. How does he feel better? By helping Barnes to feel better. And damn, isn't this a concept some people just can't wrap their heads around? Some people call the concept forgiveness. Others call it healing.Sperry's lesson is division within a community, clan, schoolroom, family, boardroom, or society, is not healthy. It causes chaos. Do you need the Bible, or the Tao to teach you about chaos and how to handle it? Well, if you don't have common sense, then perhaps you do.So, when a bully comes on the scene, Sperry shows the boys how to deal with the bully and shows the bully how to overcome what's eating him.I think it's brave, brilliant, and wonderful that the Christiano brothers used their energies and creativity to try and fill in those crevices and make our children's world a more solid place to live in.Gavin MacLeod is a delight to behold. Mr. Guillaume will have you bringing out the Kleenex.The movie is well-written, well-paced, well-acted, and touching.Great job tying up Dustin's loose end with Tanya. Wasn't expecting that one!!

dtucker86 I went to see this film today out of curiosity. I figured that I was going to have a good laugh at it when I read that Gavin MacLeod was the star of it. I didn't think I could take him seriously in a role like this because I always think of him as Captain Stubing on The Love Boat. MacLeod became a born again Christian in real life and making this film was a real labor of love for him. I came to scorn and left to rejoice. I had a very pleasant surprise because this is a beautiful film. Its so sad that it wont even be a footnote in the 2009 box office history. People who are not as brilliant as I am will make fun of it and miss its very important message. It has only limited release and when I went to see it, I was the ONLY one in the whole theatre. It is a real pleasure seeing a film like this because Hollywood has long had a jaded attitude about religion. In other words, whenever they make a film about it they always show the religious person as crazy, corrupt or both. Thinking back over the years, I can only name The Passion Of The Christ as a film that showed religion in a favorable way. People may condemn this film for being preachy, but I loved it. It had such a powerful message and Gavin MacLeod gave an awesome performance. He brought Jonathan Sperry to life and you loved this wonderful old man who had such love in his heart. I can think of no other actor who could have done such a brilliant job and I say give Gavin MacLeod the Oscar! Sadly this will never happen. I also wanted to praise the young actors in the film, they all did a great job even the one playing Nick the bully. I loved the part where Jonathan reached Nick and made him realize the cause of his meaness. I wanted to particularly praise a young actor named Jansen Panettine who played Justin the lead kid. He is a real acting prodigy and I predict a great future for this young man! I kept wondering when he was going to work up the nerve to ask that girl for a date and I was angry at that other waitress for throwing his note away. Watching the three boys and the typical kid problems they went thru sort of reminded me of Stand By Me. I just loved everything about this film from the way they faithfully created the "look" of the seventies (when people only tipped fifty cents!) to the beautiful musical score, the powerful message and the awesome work of everyone involved. If I had my way, this film would have gotten top billing everywhere. SPOILER ALERT, I knew that Mister Sperry would die in the end of the film and Jansen Panettine did a great job showing the grief this boy feels over his beloved friends death. I know that people may mock me for saying this but I feel I am a better person for seeing this film.