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Happy Easter! Three days before the resurrection miracle that defined Christianity, Jesus died on an Old Rugged Cross for the sins of podcasters everywhere. Therefore, it felt right to review OLD RUGGED CROSS, a drama about two pastors fighting for hearts and minds in a small town, by beloved auteur Donald James Parker. Parker, a frequently reviewed filmmaker on this podcast, had an insanely productive streak from 2014–2016, during which he wrote ten feature films, sometimes directing and starring in them. These include his famous GRAMPS series as well as the legendary THE UNEXPECTED BAR MITZVAH, some of our favorite movies we have ever watched in the faith-based genre. OLD RUGGED CROSS is a reskin of some of Donald's favorite topics, and although it lacks some of the explosive novelty of THE UNEXPECTED BAR MITZVAH (a film that prominently featured an Orthodox Jewish family arguing about Tim Tebow), OLD RUGGED CROSS keeps the viewer engaged with an entertaining story and dialogue so unmistakably Donald it boggles the mind. For example, OLD RUGGED CROSS's three main characters are groan-inducingly on-the-nose: Parker himself plays the pure-hearted Pastor "Evan Shepherd," his evil rival is the scheming Pastor Luke "Wolf," and his love interest torn between the two holy men is "Anita Rock." Seriously. Some other tropes from Parker's work are presented well here: Pastor Shepherd observes a Saturday Sabbath, as Jewish people do, because this is more biblically accurate. Also, Shepherd is portrayed as being so devout a Christian as to alienate his wife and daughters, a biographical aspect of nearly all of Parker's self-cast characters. Why this very specific creative choice? Parker's expressive performance as Shepherd and the jaw-dropping dialogue of his script combine in a pleasing way that makes OLD RUGGED CROSS one of the most solid and entertaining entries in Parker's filmography, a real compliment considering his catalog contains some of the most legendary contemporary Christian films of all time. If your name happens to be Anita Christianfilm, look no further.

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