Jesus stated that, ‘All Authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth, go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.’ It is important that we remain sheep to the Lord but also to be the shepherds of men. The Forge helps me remember what my commitment to Christ entails. Isaiah, a recent high school graduate, is lost and bitter and is wandering the world aimlessly with no focus, prospects or Faith until he finds an opportunity to be mentored by a Christian who helps him turn his life around.
For many years, third rate performers have stubbornly worked their way through clunky dialogues in what were essentially glorified sermons draped in the flimsiest of outright tawdry Christian movies. And yet, because of films like Cabrini and The Blind, it seems that the last couple of years has seen a Cambrian Explosion jump in the evolutionary chain of films, finding dedicated artists to break away from what had turned out to be a reasonable if unfortunate stereotype.
The Forge is somewhere in between. While its two leads may have given performances that are much better than the material deserved, the film’s pacing and direction also do within the bland and hamfisted American Christian films of the past ages, but at the heart of the matter, The Forge is exactly what it looks like a cut rate social gospel delivered in cinematic form with little effort at a plot.
On the surface, the film is concerned with a young man who has been abandoned by his father, feels lost in a society that glorifies idleness and hedonism over order and discipline, and is brought back by a devout man who encourages him to strive for more through the teachings of God. The audience is frustrated because, instead of utilizing that as a basis to create an engaging story that gradually raises the stakes and thereby the tension through the development of its core characters, the film just seems to be in a hurry to reach its next sermon and fast forwards all its setups.
What is perhaps the most disheartening thing about The Forge, is that the writers take the risk of exploring what could have been a very good narrative, but choose not to expand on it and thus, fail to deliver a worthwhile storyline. Structurally, The Forge is built upon and entirely requires plot movement via twists. Is the outcome a resolution of a conflict or plot; no, it’s a stroke of luck that teaches enough value or enough faith to the protagonist to see him through his next poorly constructed ordeal.
Nonetheless, despite not being a runaway summer hit worth billions just yet, and even as film critics including me would be annoyed by the show don’t tell style of dialogue and the general weakness of the plot and characters, the film has a strong message. Their leads are committed and skilled, and while the narration of each sermon is architeturally passé, the content is free from any flaws and is very impactful in terms of spirituality.
Offered in an appropriate manner at church camps and youth services, The Forge can be a transforming instrument to awaken almost men to the understanding of manhood in God and the serenity and power that comes about when one heeds His call. Moreover, The Forge conveys another crucial message that of the need for men to step up as leaders in the church and serves as a warning to those who desire to turn their backs on Him and those He has entrusted them with.
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