BY CHRISTOPHER STAMM
GUEST MOVIE REVIEWER
Sound of Freedom (Now showing in theatres)
Well, I’m back, everyone, but as of right now, this won’t be a weekly column, but more of a here-and-there type of thing. I first want to say thank you to everyone who sent letters to the Editor and who stopped me in pretty much every store I ventured into in Merrill and asked me to reconsider and gave me so many words of encouragement.
I heard you; Tina heard you; so you can stop now and let me get my ice cream in peace. LOL.
Ok, gird yourself. This one may run long.
The film I want to review today is Sound of Freedom, and unless you have been living on Mars, you should at some point have heard of this film. Filmed five years ago, shelved by Disney, shelved by FOX, and rejected by Amazon and Netflix, it has at long last found its way to the cinema with Angel Studios.
Sound of Freedom is the mostly-true story of Tim Ballard, a former military operator and agent for Homeland Security who, after many years of chasing pedophiles, comes to understand that he is simply playing whack-a-mole–take down one, two pop back up to replace them. After going off the reservation a bit and saving a young boy sold into slavery, Ballard decides enough is enough and starts a noble crusade to save as many children as possible.
As always, I will refrain from telling you too much, but I will say this: Seek out and see this film ASAP. It’s important and the subject matter, while harrowing, is something we cannot turn away from. We must see, and we must act.
The question I have asked myself is: Why? Why was this movie nearly regulated to the beyond where nobody would see it? Why are so many establishment media outlets actively attempting to degrade it and keep people from seeing it? Google Sound of Freedom conspiracy and you get multiple hits calling the film a “far right dream.”
We are talking about the slavery and exploitation of children. When did this subject become a “far right conspiracy” and not a soul-crushing fact of our world?
Maybe Hollyweird should wake up and smell the coffee already. The big release of last week about a certain whip-cracking adventurer crashed and burned, while Sound of Freedom beat every expectation in ticket sales. On its first day of release, it beat that Adventurer in ticket sales for the day, while being offered in 50% fewer theatres.
Why? Because it’s a damn good film about a subject that we all must care about.
Movies, when done right, entertain us, enlighten us, and touch our souls, and I am here to tell you that the dreck coming out of Hollyweird over the last few years cannot hold a candle to the little film that could and does reach into us and awaken that part of all of us that wants justice and the delicate sound of freedom for all.
As Ballard says in the film, “God’s children are not for sale.”
Amen to that.
A full five out of five stars for Sound of Freedom. See this film and see it soon.