Ragamuffin Review

This movie was recommended by my younger brother, and since it is available on streaming Netflix it made it really easy to start watching it and see what it was all about.  Ragamuffin in the true story of the Christian singer Rich Mullins (the writer of the hit Christian song "Our God is an Awesome God").  This movie starts out showing Rich's childhood with his tough dad,  shows how Rich became a Christian, how he came to write songs and rose to become a well-known Christian singer, song writer, and performer.  Although this movie is around 2 hours long, Chrystal and I both felt like it was very captivating and above the normal expectations for a Christian film.  It faithfully shows the ups and downs of Rich's life and how his childhood conflicts played a role in his struggles as an adult Christian.

What did I most enjoy about this movie?
It was refreshingly real.  It was transparent,  and it didn't paint the Christian life as problem-free with no trials whatsoever (because it's not). It showed some of Rich's weak moments but throughout the movie I felt like you still got a clear picture of God's hand at work in Rich Mullins life as he struggled to balance fame as a Christian with a burning desire to love people and live true to the Gospel.  It showed the value of Christian mentoring and brotherhood and overall I think it did a great job showing Rich's love for the Lord despite have some sin issues to work through.   The other thing I really liked about this movie is that it stuck with me for several days after watching it.  Not all movies do that, but the ones that do I like to think have something special.  In this movie, I felt like it was great testimony of an imperfect man who was changed into a new creation by a perfect God : Jesus Christ.  

Note: Not everyone will feel the same way about this movie I realize.  Some may feel it dwelt too much on Rich's sin and personal struggles and not enough on the peace and joy he had in Christ.  No movie will please everyone,  but I encourage you to watch it all the way through and make your own judgement.  We give it two thumbs up for a very well written and produced biography movie about the very authentic Christian man : Rich Mullins.  I look forward to meeting him someday.