Mad Tiger Movie Review

Last weekend I went and watched Billy: The Early Years directed by Robbie Benson (a blast from the past) starring Arnie Hammer as Billy Graham, Stefanie Butler as Ruth Bell Graham and Martin Landau as Billy’s life long friend Charles Templeton.

Everyone knows who he is. Now find out how he got there. He remains one of the true icons of late 20th and early 21st century evangelism. But what of his early years - the years that led him into full-time ministry? As scripted and directed by acclaimed actor Robby Benson, this fact-based historical drama depicts Graham as an earnest young man whose life is irrevocably changed via his interaction with another up-and-coming follower of God, Charles Templeton. Though fast friends, the men reach a crossroads and fork off in opposing directions when Templeton's faith buckles beneath the weight of the scientific revolution and the evidence that he perceives as an unshakable threat to Christianity. The disbelief that Templeton demonstrates, in turn, convinces Graham to take the altar call in the Depression-Era South, in an effort to bring people to God who find themselves mired in agnosticism and atheism.

Billy Graham is about the only Tel-Evangelist that still stands as a man of integrity and who lives as he preaches. This film has too much preaching in it for my taste, but it’s a movie about a preacher so is to be expected. It is a good movie whether you are a Billy Graham fan or not. I give this movie 4 tiger paws.