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Parents' Guide to

The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry

By Renee Longstreet, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 11+

Coming-of-age story with strong Christian messages.

Movie PG 2008 96 minutes
The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

age 8+

Based on 7 parent reviews

age 2+

Great Christian family movie

A great Christian family movie inspirational. Has so many elements in it. I don’t see how anyone couldn’t appreciate it. I do have one issue though as the Bible says the living know they are going to die but the dead know nothing.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
age 8+

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (7 ):
Kids say (1 ):

Earnest, simply-stated, and unabashedly advocating a Christian belief system,THE SECRETS OF JONATHAN SPERRY is a movie with purpose. Relying on a very thin story, heartfelt but amateurish performances by the young actors, and an unquestioning point of view, the film leaves no space for personal insights or thoughtful discussion of different attitudes or religions. The film is set in an idealized community that seems to have no relationship with the world as it was in 1970: everyone is clean-cut (even the bully), financially comfortable, safe, male-driven, and with one notable exception, white and Christian.

The filmmakers' intent is so strong that though they state early that the film is fiction, they end with a crawl describing what happened to the not-real characters in later years, all of whom found their calling in promoting Christian values. Probably best appreciated by those with a firmly Christian perspective.

Movie Details

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