Believe Me

Pierce (Miles Fisher) invites his college fraternity brother, Sam (Alex Russell), to church services as a way to meet girls. Both of them are charismatic, fast-talking con men who have little interest in doing the right thing. They're also engaged in hazing fraternity pledges, and Sam presses one boy to lie to school investigators about the severity of the hazing practices. "Sometimes," he explains, "people DO want to be lied to." However clunky, this exchange raises the film's central theme and establishes the shakiness of Sam and his friends' morals. And it turns out that lying is the least of their transgressions. Sam and friends put on a fake Christian charity fundraiser to come up with his tuition, plus a little extra for the rest of the crew. Their energetic and successful event attracts the attention of Ken (Christopher McDonald), a preacher-promoter who hires them to preach and fundraise for his cause. When Sam and company are caught skimming off the top, Ken doesn't send them to jail, because he fears the scandal will damage his ministry. Instead, he forces them to keep their mouths shut and praise the Lord for his charity shows. He condones their dishonesty as long as it helps position his organization as the "number one ministry" in the country.