Undaunted... The Early Life of Josh McDowell (2011) Reviews

• Dark & somber film with a heartfelt message about Christianity

  j_jamison2013-05-24

  Josh McDowell is a writer and a public speaker who touches on aspects of familial relationships and Apologetics (the defending of Christianity) in general. This autobiographical film was based on his early life and explained his motivations behind what he does in his professional life. The film was screened after a seminar he had given at a church near where I lived, while the audience didn't get to have a chance to speak to or have an interactive session/Q&A with Josh McDowell himself before he left, the film itself answered on why the person himself devoted his life on spreading the word of the Lord. Scripted in a half-documentary, half-motion picture format, the film is narrative-driven, and is complemented by somber, moody music for some of the 'darker' scenes in the film concerning the abuses McDowell received in his early childhood. For some though, the film may seem preachy at times given its Christian message - but I personally thought it served more as a prelude or a backstory behind "More Than a Carpenter", a book he had written about the factual and historical basis behind the Christian faith. (On a side note, the film also has excellent set design and features some rather authentic, vintage '50-60s automobiles and costumes)

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• Should do well on the Christian circuit

  bkoganbing2016-04-10

  Josh McDowell Christian motivational speaker has lent out his life story and narrated this film Undaunted about his early years growing up in rural Michigan. After service in the Air Force, McDowell went to Wheaton College and became a minister. The story here is how he became a minister after overcoming a really lousy childhood, an alcoholic father, an abused mother, brothers and sisters who sound like white trash and even a farm hand who sexually abused him. There will be no one in the cast you recognize and the film was nicely photographed in the locations and I have to say in terms of costume and sets they did manage to recreate the Fifties era quite nicely. It's a good film of its type and should do well on the Christian circuit.

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