** Contains Bias and Spoliers**
Christian Mingle was released in theaters on October 10, 2014. This romantic comedy was directed and written by Corbin Bernsen, and produced by Chris Aronoff and Suzette Schafer. The film focuses on actress Lacey Chabert — most commonly known for her role as Gretchen Wieners in Mean Girls — and several other low profile actors such as Jonathan Patrick Moore, Saidah Arikka Ekulona, Stephen Tobolowsky, John O’Hurley, David Keith, and Morgan Fairchild.
The film follows Gwyneth Hayden (Lacey Chabert)- a marketing executive- who is tired of going on dates that end up as failures while her friends are in relationships. In a desperate search to find Mr. Right, Gwyneth creates a profile on Christian Mingle, an online dating website for Christians, in hope of finding a genuine guy despite her lack of understanding of Christian faith.
Her spontaneous decision proves to be a success when she meets up with a man named Paul Wood. The movie follows the growth of their relationship and reveals the problems that began to arise when Paul’s family and friends discover that Gwyneth was not being truthful about her beliefs. This film focuses not only on Gwyneth’s struggle to keep the truth from Paul but also reveals how her time spent around him led her to discovering a new found faith and filled her with the want to build a relationship with Christ.
After watching this film I thought that overall, Corbin Bernsen did a wonderful job in writing a romantic comedy that was a faith-based production. Although I do believe it was that faith-base that limited their audience and success in theaters.
Through this film, I have developed a new appreciation for Lacey Chabert because of her ability to bring that comedic edge and goofiness to her character along with some very heartfelt scenes, which were by far the highlights of this film. Especially her scenes with Moore, those really did melt my heart. Sadly I cannot point out any other notable performances, not that they were bad, just mediocre.
What I do applaud is how they tell a story of a girl trying to find love, while going through her own personal journey. It shows how others can be emotionally touched and exposed to new discoveries as Gwyneth was by those around her, causing her to want to change perspective. I thought this was a beautiful theme found in this film.
Although I loved the content, they were definitely lacking in visual quality. When I go see a film in theaters, I am expecting to be lost in that world due to the screen clarity and effects that make it look better than reality, but that wasn’t the case. I felt it was poorly shot and at times the screen appeared blurred with poor lighting. It was more of a movie that I would have watched when it came out on Netflix.
Though the quality was disappointing, this film is still a great story about finding ones self. I would recommend this to anybody who likes faith-based family films or if your just looking for a heartfelt story that may evoke some giggles.