There have been many films that have dealt with the lives of our soldiers, especially in times of war. Good or bad, the stories deal with all sides of military life, but there doesn’t seem to be as many of them that deal with the families of fallen soldiers. Taking a cue from the Rascal Flatts hit “God Bless the Broken Road,” Harold Cronk (God’s Not Dead) co-writes and directs a tale dealing with this aspect of the subject.
This film stars Lindsay Pulsipher (True Blood) as Amber Hill, the widow of a serviceman struggling to raise her daughter, Bree (Makenzie Moss from the “Pup Star” films), while working at a local diner. Struggling with her faith after the loss, her mother-in-law, Patti (Kim Delaney, NYPD Blue), helps out to the point where she brings intentions to have custody of Bree. While all of this is going on, a racecar driver named Cody Jackson (Andrew W, Walker from “Steel Toes) enters the picture, and things start to progress. From there comes a story of trying to find a new normal on a number of fronts with a supporting cast that boasts Robin Givens, “American Idol” alum Jordin Sparks, and former NFL star LaDanian Tomlinson.
This film shows its setting of a small town Appalachian town well. The acting is fine, but some of it was a bit over-the-top. For the most part, it was simply just there. Even though this is a faith-based film, I just felt it pushes that aspect of the story way too much to the point where it really should only be shown on a religious station or Lifetime with its combination of a happy-go-lucky and hardship-filled life. “God Bless the Broken Road” gave me the same feel that the Nicholas Cage version of “Left Behind” did, and you may remember made my second worst film of 2014. If you miss church and want to make it up, watch this film, but I cannot recommend or ever watch this film again.