The Penny: My Thoughts

The Penny tells the tales of several characters, most of them strangers to the others, but who make choices that bring them to one place on one pivotal night that will change each of their lives, for better or for worse.

OK, I feel as though I'm repeating a promotional blurb, so I might as well quote the description on the back of the DVD case:

"Ten years after a tragic accident, former detective Jack Carter wants nothing more than to be a good father and husband, but his life begins to unravel through the actions of people he hasn't even met. Rebellious teens, a gas station owner, criminals, and a washed up cop all have plans of their own. Suddenly , these six lives begin to fit together in a completely unexpected way. Some would call it fate or destiny, others just bad luck or even coincidence. But is there more to it? The answer lies in a penny."

The film is rather emotional at times. My mom couldn't stand to watch it, but the rest of us enjoyed it, though I'll admit I got moist eyes. I thought I knew in general where the plot was going, but there were surprises thrown in along the way. The acting was not great but good (I'm comparing it to other small-budget indie Christian film projects). The father character impressed me, and I'll talk more about him below.

Title // The Penny
Studio // Filmweavers LLC
Year // 2010

Themes:

No event is insignificant. There are ramifications to everything. Everything and everyone is interconnected. Our own futures are being concocted right now out of people we have never met and events we have no clue are happening. What I do right now will impact someone else another day in ways I can't imagine.

God has a reason in letting bad things happen. Good will come of it later, perhaps in the life of the same person or a different person. We forget that our own life is not the full story of the world; a relatively minor inconvenience to us could be the circumstance that saves someone else's life. We don't even realize how many times our own lives have been saved from dangers we were completely unaware of, precisely because God prevented them from happening.

The old fathers-need-to-be-present-in-their-children's-lives theme was there. It's not that I don't agree with it; I do, but it comes up in almost every "Christian" film, and it's so obvious and preachy. I'm glad I'm not a man; I don't think I'd be able to stand it that every Christian film was trying to teach me a lesson!

With that rant over, I will say the theme was presented a little differently here. The dad really wanted to be involved in his teenage daughter's life, but he misunderstood her. She was pretty spiteful, and even though deep down she wanted her dad to do things with her, she always rejected his invitations when he suggested that they go somewhere fun or work on a school project together. The father didn't realize that she was testing him and he wasn't insistent. Both of them failed to communicate truthfully to each other. While they both wanted a deeper relationship, they seemed to think that it would happen without any effort on their part. It took a near tragedy for the daughter's heart to open up to her dad.

The father was a surprisingly strong actor in a part that must have been very hard to play. We meet him in the first scene as a courageous police detective, the leader who is tough on criminals but who knows how to boost the morale of his nervous comrade. When his plans go wrong and he finds his comrade shot to death, his display of raw grief is just overwhelming. He retires from the police force, and the film jumps forward several years, where we find him working a quiet job as a mailman to provide for his family, then coming home every evening to take care of his wife, who has an undiagnosed, debilitating illness, and his three children. He takes care of the cooking and cleaning and still makes time to play with his kids and tuck the younger ones in bed. There are so many emotions that he feels- weariness, tenderness for his wife, concern for his daughter- yet he handles it in a manly way. He's incredibly selfless and sacrificial. He's the rock for his family.

On another positive note, I was happy to see that the teenage girls dressed modestly, even when wearing their volleyball uniforms. The daughter's friends were portrayed as out-of-control, but in their physical appearance that only manifested itself in heavy make-up and brightly colored clothing.