A Walk with Grace

Former reality producer/ad man Nick Kellis' pleasant but hokey romance fills a void: It's an Easter movie that doesn't involve men in robes, brightly colored eggs, or cute animals. It does, however, deliver Christianity's most important messages of the season: Even those who stray will be lovingly welcomed back home. Of course, the "prodigal son" allegory has always felt unfair to the older brother. Similarly, this story feels unfair to Sabrina, who felt forced to stay in Lima to run the factory after Nate abandoned his responsibilities to see what life in the big city. More unfair is that Sabrina is made out to be somewhat of a villain for wanting to get out from under this responsibility that was forced upon her. And then when Nate -- who checked out for the last 20 years -- pushes back on the sale, she says to him, "well, you're the smart one." It's hard not to bristle at that comment and realize that even though Kellis has clearly taken steps to show women as capable, intelligent, and powerful, A Walk with Grace still perpetuates the idea that men know better.

A Walk with Grace is a jokey title -- the opposing forces in the fight for the factory are women named Grace and Graciella, Nate is looking for grace from his town and from God, and, for good measure, the song "Amazing Grace" is sung not once, but twice -- but it carries a noble intention. While the story is thin, sanitized, and even cutesy, it highlights the plight of the American factory worker. This film makes the argument for why this endangered species needs our attention. That matters because, often, inserting a thought-provoking idea into a light, breezy movie can be more powerful than a heavy-handed drama or a newsy documentary. To its credit, A Walk with Grace achieves its simple aspirations: It tells a modern version of a Christian story to faith-based audiences, reminds them that small towns have their charms, and acknowledges that it's never to late to come back home and do some good.