Faith Returns to the Big Screen by Corine Gatti, Faith, Movies, Cast, Inspiration, News, Box Office, 2015

A Faithful Return

After the success of faith films “God’s Not Dead,” “The Bible” and “Heaven is for Real,” 2015 looks to be another big year for faith films. Rusty Martin stars in "Chasing Grace" and he's not surprised by the recent demand. "Hollywood is always trying to break into new markets and gain consumer attention and their new foray into faith films has been an example of this. But with recent backlash from Christian groups I’m sure they are feeling the pressure to change their formula. That being said, people of all walks of life, including Christians, tell Hollywood what they want to see by voting with their dollars. So as long as people are going out and paying money to see faith films, you can bet Hollywood will do its utmost to fill the demand.

Chasing Grace

"Chasing Grace" stars Rusty Martin (Christopher Matheson), Michael Joyner (Jonathan Matheson) and Ashlee Payne as Angela Matheson about the ultimate power of forgiveness in this family thriller. Jonathan Matheson a pastor has no control of his life after a tragedy sends him reeling. David Temple wrote the screenplay, and knew he wanted to transform the book he wrote into a movie. “I always imagined a story where a "man of the cloth," while living in a world of black & white, would use the 'grey in-between' to his advantage, as needed. As for my crew, from my DP to my last PA, I love them all. Everyone bought my dream, worked their butts off and gave me their best work. I couldn't be happier.”

The film is not just the average faith-geared film, said Martin, who is also studying agriculture at North Carolina State University. "Chasing Grace is not your average faith film. It’s one of the few I’ve seen that has really captured the heart of what it means to be human and what it means to struggle through the hard times of life. But more than that, it is a film that shows the redemptive power of forgiveness in spite of those hard times. I think people will really enjoy Chasing Grace because of the story, production value, and the vulnerability and realness of the characters."