Movie Review: October Baby

by Daniel McInerny on March 23, 2012 · 5 comments

As the credits roll at the end of October Baby, actress Shari Rigby, who plays Hannah’s birth mother in the film, gives a moving testimony to the abortion she undertook as a young woman, and the Divine mercy she has experienced since. Such a testimony deserves to move the hearts of many. But testimony is not the craft of cinematic storytelling, and it is to a story that the makers of October Baby invited us. As long as Christian filmmakers fail to learn the basic principles of that craft, then their messages, however truthful and urgent they may be, will fail to be heard by those–like the thousands if not millions going to see The Hunger Games this weekend–who need to hear them most.

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  • MIke Lawless

    There is such a thing as a well-made movie based on Christian themes that appeal to a broad audience. A few of my favorites include “The Song of Bernadette”, 1943  (won 4 oscars, including Best Actress for Jennifer Jones, 8 other nominations, including 3 supporting roles, director, and best picture, and won 3 Golden Globes, including actress, director and best picture); “A Man for All Seasons”, 1966 (won both Oscar and Golden Globe for best actor, director, picture and adapted screenplay, plus 2 other Oscars, and 2 other Oscar nominations for supporting roles); “Becket”, 1964 (won Oscar for adapted screenplay, 11 other nominations including 3 actors, director and picture, won Golden Globe for best actor, 3 other nominations include actor, picture and director); “The Shoes of the Fisherman” 1968 (2 Oscar nominations, won a Golden Globe plus nomination for best picture); and of course, “The Passion of the Christ” 2004 (3 Oscar nominations, won People’s Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture Drama). It’s worth noting that of those, all but “The Shoes of the Fisherman” were based on true stories, and it could be said, sort of, that a true story was based on “Shoes of the Fisherman,” which was about a Russian former gulag prisoner who eventually was elected Pope, which had a lot of striking parallels with the story of Pope John Paul II. It’s also worth noting that all of these pictures, with the exception of “The Passion of the Christ,” are not only Christian-themed, but more specifically, Catholic-themed.

  • Amy

    Mike, I agree with you and I like your list.  However, none of those movies is very recent.  The sorts of films which are now getting made and lauded by Christians (of the “Fireproof” and “October Baby” variety) seem to be born of a Christian subculture and seem only to get rave reviews from those who understand the world view of the producers.  These recent efforts will never bridge the culture gap. They do succeed in making those of us who already agree with the message of the film feel better about ourselves.  No doubt they might reach a few unconvicted hearts in the way that any powerful preacher or a good retreat might do, but they won’t lift the imagination and heart to God with the power of a good work of art such as the “Song of Bernadette.”

    I, too, saw “October Baby” on Thursday evening with my 16 year old daughter, Clearly she is more the intended demographic than me.  I found it instructive that she thought it was a good message, but “kinda lame and preachy.”  She clearly didn’t think kids at her high school who were not already “living and breathing pro-life stuff” would think much of the movie.It is time for a Catholic renewal in film making.  I echo the question posed by Harold Fickett in a recent combox comment:  Where are the Cathoic investors in  this battle front of the Culture Wars?

    Blessed John Paul, pray for artists!

  • bronwyn

    I enjoyed all of the films mentioned…except October Baby which I haven’t seen yet. I did see some other pro-life films which I loved including “Bella” and perhaps not intentionally pro-life “Juno”. There are good storytellers who use the medium of film to create excellent and thought-provoking films. I am currently watching films that focus on the lives of saints and so far, most have been Made in Italy. Our family watched films on Saint Anthony, Saint Padre Pio, Saint Rita, Maria Goretti, and in English Saint Therese of Liseaux, Mother Teresa of Culcutta, and tonight it’ll be the story of Esther, although the title is a double entendre…One Night with the King. We should support good films even though my eldest went out with her friends last night to watch The Hunger Games. The tickets were preordered by her friend’s father

  • JL

    Yes, of course. October Baby is only on 400 screens while The Hunger Games is on 4000 because of poorly written dialogue. It certainly has nothing to do with October Baby being a prolife movie, making it toxic to many in the film industry. It also certainly has absolutely nothing to do with special effects and the mountain of hype surrounding THG. If only Hannah carried around a bow and arrow and shot her blonde rival with it, while not speaking and expressing her emotions through her actions, October Baby would be showing on 4000 screens!

    Besides, everybody knows that A Man For All Seasons was a terrible movie. It would have been much better if Sir Thomas had to fight off an alien invasion. That would get the kids into the theaters.

  • october papa

    I only recently saw october baby on DVD based on a recomendation from my brother. I loved it. It has so many positive messages for our world today. It sure made me feel very lucky to be born into a loving family. This healing story needed to be told to the broken world we live in. I would recommend it to everyone.

    Every life is beautiful! I’m very happy to see someone trying to change the uglyness in our world. I would be ashamed to be a Catholic and not be promoting, in every way we can, getting rid of the hedious crime of abortion.
    I’m also proud of the abortion survivers trying to bring this issue to the attention of the public.