The Forge: Well-Intentioned, but Uninspired (Blu-ray)

The Film:

Faith-based films is one of those sub-genres that never really gets a whole lot of fanfare when it comes to promotion, and yet, much of the time, the audience that these films are directed towards will turn out in very solid numbers to make them a success. Take for instance a film like "The Forge," one that most people likely didn't even know was out in theaters a few months ago, but which ended its run with an impressive $40 million worldwide against its $5 million dollar production budget. Indeed, it clearly found an audience among those looking for something spiritual, but what about the film itself? Is it actually worth the pilgrimage to seek it out, or is it perhaps one that's too niche for most to enjoy?

The film centers on Isaiah Wright (Aspen Kennedy), a 19-year-old who lives at home with his mother (Priscilla Shirer) and spends most of his time playing basketball & video games with his friends. His mother finally gets fed up with him doing nothing with his life and demands that he get a job and start paying rent, or else she'll kick him out. This leads him to Moore Fitness, where he makes a bad first impression when he happens to meet the company's president, Joshua Moore (Cameron Arnett), in the lobby. Joshua takes a liking to Isaiah and decides to help by taking him under his wing and giving him a job, which starts off a little rocky at first, but soon shows that the young man can be responsible and work hard. As he continues his work, we learn that there is trouble within the company concerning its major accounts, trouble that will soon put Isaiah's new-found life lessons to the test.

"The Forge" is a very well-intentioned film that wants to tell the story of a young man who needs to find some direction in his life as he becomes an adult. It's meant to be inspirational as we watch Isaiah figure out that he really needs to turn things around and get serious about getting a job, while wasting less time on hobbies that have seemingly taken over his life like video games & basketball. Sure, this is obviously a very cliched story, one where the audience pretty much knows the path that it's going to take, but again, it's all in the name of inspiring young people to learn responsibility as they enter adulthood, so in that sense, the cliched & predictable nature of the story is at least a little forgivable.

That said, where the film unfortunately really starts to fall apart is when it takes a sudden sharp turn and becomes a full-on overly-preachy, sermonizing advertisement for its particular religious view. At this point, it basically forgets about the story that it was trying to tell and instead focuses on Isaiah finding Jesus, attending Joshua's prayer circle, and being the responsible hard worker that he had already shown he can be. Obviously a faith-based film is going to have at least some preaching contained within, but in this instance, it's laid on so heavily that it practically feels like a hand is reaching out of the screen and cramming it down your throat. The film does get somewhat back on track with its plot for its final act, but once again, it just has Isaiah using the basic life lessons that he had already picked up prior to his religious awakening.

I really hope it doesn't have to be said that this is not a commentary on the content of the film, but rather how it uses it, or rather how it overuses it. It was already starting with a rather cliched tale, so to leave that behind and drown it in extraneous material certainly doesn't do it any favors. Screenwriters Stephen & Alex Kendrick may have set out to make an inspirational tale with "The Forge," but sadly that uplifting message ultimately gets buried and smothered to the point where it ends up having very little to say at all, ironically leaving us with a film that feels rather uninspired.

Video/Audio:

"The Forge" comes to Blu-ray in a 2.39:1, 1080p High Definition transfer of excellent quality, looking perfectly sharp & clear throughout its two-hour runtime. Likewise, the 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio is fantastic, giving you all of the dialogue and music in outstanding quality. Overall, Sony has done a fine job in both areas for the film's debut physical release.

Special Features:

Commentary with The Kendrick Brothers

The Making of The Forge (16 Minutes)

Discipleship in The Forge (6 Minutes)

The Heart of The Forge (5 Minutes)

Bloopers (4 Minutes)

Deleted Scenes (10 Scenes, 13 Minutes)

Extras included on the Blu-ray include a commentary and about 45 minutes of featurettes and other bonuses. Most of them aren't particularly worth looking into, but the commentary and "Making of" are decent enough for those wanting to learn more about the film.

Conclusion:

"The Forge" is a very well-intentioned film that wants to be a inspiration to young people trying to find some direction in their life, but sadly it loses focus on that goal as it gets heavily bogged down by other material that drowns that message out, ultimately making this a cliched tale that could've used a little more inspiration of its own.

Score: 2/5

Available on Blu-ray starting tomorrow.

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