Parents' Guide to

I'm in Love with a Church Girl

By Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 11+

Drug dealer's conversion story appeals to faith audiences.

Movie PG 2013 115 minutes
I'm in Love with a Church Girl Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 18+

Based on 2 parent reviews

age 18+

Wow, what a film!

As a Christian man, I cannot recommend this film, too much provocative imagery. However, as a man, seeing Ja Rule do the things he did in in this film really stirred something deep inside of me. Very sultry stuff, would definitely recommend

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
age 18+

Too much talk about sex and sexual messages

Surprised it was 4 out of 5 stars for family friendly by “plugged in”. Very disappointing. Not family friendly from a Christian view point. Good message but it didn’t need all the sex talk and provocative dressing. Then the Christian girl was ok with going to a bar ??? They even filmed her in a dress from her legs up very slowly to give her that “sexy” look. Really ?? That’s Godly ?? Very poor taste. The movie could have been done better.

This title has:

Great messages
Too much sex

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (2):
Kids say (4):

Based on the life story of Galley Molina, a former Northern California cocaine dealer who converted to Christianity in prison, the movie has all the elements of a compelling "testimony." It's the tale of how a criminal turned to the Lord. As a ministry tool in evangelical churches, this movie will no doubt be successful in sparking conversation about the power of God, and how no one is too sinful to be saved. Christian audiences looking for a movie with an inspirational story about the redemptive power of believing will be pleased with the production values, the recognizable cast, and the overt religious messages.

Secular audiences, however, will not be pleased with this movie. It's overlong (two hours) and overly sentimental, with Job-like disasters befalling and testing Miles (first his mother dies, then his beloved Vanessa lands in a coma after an accident, and then the DEA rounds up and arrests his crew). The acting is fine, but the dialogue is heavy-handed in its mission to preach and is formulaic, amateurish, and unbelievable. Even if you already read the Bible and attend church regularly, this sermonizing story may not resonate as a film but more as a Sunday School lesson.

Movie Details

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