Trite and unenlightened. A in parts word for word transcript of the bible mortality tale. The world is more complex than this. It is not even a proper prodigal son story. He goes off loses some money and hangs around with some actresses. He does nothing wrong, unless you think losing money is a sin.

Okay. There are a lot of movies that take off on the Prodigal Son theme which, no offense, is not one my favorite parables, at least not the way that it is usually presented. At least the older brother is prominent; many ministers leave him out.My problem with the Prodigal Son has always been this dismissal of the older son as simply selfish. I have always felt that his issues were valid and that the father should acknowledge that and actually tell him he is proud of him instead of putting the burden on the son to be forgiving. True, the two boys were different, and everybody seemed to like the younger one even though he was a a complete malingerer. One wonders what the oldest boy's childhood was like? Was the mother alive? Did he have to help raise his brother too, thus shutting out his own childhood even more?Additionally, and this is not a spoiler since the story is from the Bible, it seems the younger son was only sad he lost everything. In other words, did he have any responsibility to apologize to his older brother? Did the father encourage him to?The older son gave his inheritance back to the business while the younger one did not even care when he knew his family was in trouble. As in the Bible, the father says to the older son that he will get everything the father has - except what? The younger son seems to me to be the type who after the father's death would split off from his brother and run a competing business since the older would inherit the whole business.My point is, even in the Bible I think misinterpretation has occurred. My belief is that God wants us to love ALL of our children and to tell them ALL they have value. Throw a party for the oldest son too!!!

I give the makers credit for unapologetically retelling a predictable story, but not preaching in the process. It could be for someone of any religion. Jesus is never even mentioned. The people who give him advice do it modestly.However, just for the record, there is nothing wrong with living in a big city, being an investor, or enjoying material possessions. But it does matter what products and projects you support. In this case he financed a video game that may deaden the senses of our youth, and a movie that proclaims the world a dark place without a solution.He did earn his inheritance to a degree, since he had been working on the farm for many years and lent his savvy to the operation. Manual labor is not for everyone. This movie tried to portray it as superior to business deals, but both are important.The lack of identification of the setting made sense, since they wanted the story to stand for itself, and since the small budget could not take it to L.A. If you read about the film, you see that it was Raleigh, N.C. and the sweet coffee girl is from the area in real life. It wasn't meant to be a story about L.A. or any particular city, but rather the lifestyle of any generic town.Repentance is universally possible and not unique to Christianity. We never hear that he accepts Jesus upon his return. A Jew or Unitarian can repent too.The three leads were excellent. The main character had charisma and gravitas, the party girl played worn out but savvy well, and the Barista girl showed real girl-next-door emotion.Nice picture. It's not exciting, but you may enjoy the setting and the basic message as portrayed by attractive leads and simple dialog.

It may not be as much of an action packed! with explosions!! and superheros!!! movie as we have grown accustom to recently, but it is defiantly worth the watch. It still grows with suspense while teaching important life lessons that everyone should be able to relate to in one way or another. There should be more movies and stories like this one that can entertain you while still having substance that an adult or young adult can follow. It tells a story and keeps attention without breasts, sex or special effects. I would recommend this movie for everyone to see!