THE FIRING SQUAD Documents a Real-Life Journey from Crime to Christ
By Movieguide® Contributor
Actor James Barrington and director Timothy A. Chey sat down with Movieguide® to discuss the powerful true story behind their new film, THE FIRING SQUAD.
“It’s a true story,” said Barrington, an Australian native. “So [my character] was a drug runner that would often traffic drugs between America and Australia to Indonesia, and he lived the high life, you know, making millions of millions of dollars a week, a month. There was nothing that was unobtainable to him on a materialistic standpoint. I guess he got greedy, and he got caught and sentenced to firing squad…in an Indonesian prison.”
“Throughout his time during the prison sentence, he had turned to God at some stage throughout this and managed to become a pastor of the jail,” he continued. “So…the story is kind of what he has offered, everything on a plate, and he eventually realized that the one thing that he really needed to turn to was Jesus. So to prepare myself for this, I mean, fortunately, I was raised through the Church of England.”
Barrington’s mom took him and his sister to church since their births. He felt it was easy for him to connect with the movie’s message.
“That did help a lot, and I think to be able to tap into that, I used that and utilized that throughout filming THE FIRING SQUAD, you know,” he said. “We were in a real prison, and so being in there, that was enough to kind of really immerse yourself as to how it really felt for these people.”
“My mom would always say, ‘It’d be great if you just got a good Christian-based film.’ So having that as my first lead role was very surreal and ironic, but it was an amazing experience. First day, Tim, the director, was fantastic. You know, very welcoming and the whole cast and crew were really good to get to know, and it was a really good atmosphere.”
In the movie, Barrington’s character awaits execution. At first, he resists a relationship with God.
“Kevin Sorbo, who plays the current pastor of the prison, he’s constantly trying to get me to turn to God, you know, and you’ll see me as like, I’m not interested,” Barrington explained. “Like leave me alone. [I’m] not hearing all that stuff and eventually, you know, I see the light and see that is the way that I can help people throughout prison who are in a similar situation as I am or was, you know, when I got there.”
“That transition is something that was hard to play because I’ve kind of had to have two completely different personalities in the film, but it was a nice kind of uplifting experience knowing that I’m okay. I’m forgiving the guards. I’m forgiving the prison system. I’m forgiving the people that may have kind of snitched me out that got me in trouble in the first place,” he said.
Barrington enjoyed his time alongside Cuba Gooding Jr. and Kevin Sorbo.
“Just to learn that, listen to what they have to say, any sort of advice they could give, I took it on board. It’s, you know, this is kind of a beginning for a future for me a new career,” he said. “So yeah that was just unbelievable…I’m absorbing everything like a sponge at the moment.”
“I think this film couldn’t have come out at a better time you know with everything going on at the moment the world, whatever one’s view is politically or on a religious standpoint, I think what the main thing is that we need to get across is that it’s good to have a moral standpoint, a moral compass because otherwise where do you draw the line, you know?”
Director Timothy Chey agrees with Barrington.
“No one is beyond redemption,” Chey said. “These were ex-drug dealers…I mean they were exporting, you know, kilos of cocaine from Australia into China, and a lot of people don’t realize they execute you by either hanging or firing squad, in not only Indonesia but also Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong.”
“They don’t mess around, and they have, by the way, a zero drug problem. Most people have to take away is that they found Jesus and let me tell you something. They all went out singing ‘Amazing Grace.’ They found great peace, and they said, you know, ‘We’re happy to die, go to heaven,’ and the prison guards all came to Jesus,” Chey said of the true events.
Chey’s goal for the movie is to win one million souls for Christ.
“That’s our goal. We have Kevin Sorbo giving an altar call at the end of the movie,” he said.
Chey first learned of the prisoners’ story on CNN Asia.
“The field reporter said, ‘They’re facing execution tomorrow,’ and the TV anchor said, ‘How are they feeling?’ They said, ‘They’re in perfect peace because they have a savior.’ Then I went back to the TV anchor, he said, ‘Okay well let’s get on to the next news…very you know abrupt, and I said, ‘Wait a moment. There’s a story here, and that story was Jesus.”
“I was a former atheist, and I found Jesus in my 30s, and I have two children…I don’t want them to go through my previous life the same way, but Jesus, you know, he’s not credited enough,” Chey said, “The Son of God, for changed lives, and I think many pastors have said it’s the changed life that is a miracle in itself.”
Chey believes the fact that an angry, bitter man could turn to Jesus and find peace in the face of execution is a bigger miracle than the “parting of the Red Sea.”
“I asked people, even 10,000 people, ‘How many have heard this story about three Christian prisoners who face execution?’ Maybe one or two have,” he said. “It needs to be talked about and that’s why Movieguide is such an important venue.”
FIRING SQUAD comes to U.S. theaters on Aug. 2.
Sorbo said in a statement, “In today’s entertainment landscape, it’s crucial that we rally behind projects that uphold Christian values and share stories of faith,” said Sorbo. “We have a battle to win in Hollywood. Films like this are powerful tools for spreading messages of hope and inspiration.”
Recently® reported on Sorbo’s experience as a believer in Hollywood:
“If it wasn’t for faith-based or independent movies, I wouldn’t have a career anymore,” Sorbo said previously. “I gave them 12 years of two TV shows — one being the most watched show in the world. And (Hollywood) just said, ‘Nope.’”
But voicing his beliefs hasn’t changed Sorbo’s career in the way they think.
“I’m still working,” he explained. “Yeah, they’re not calling me to do big budget movies or TV shows on networks anymore. I don’t harbor that anger and hate towards people that have a different point of view. I really don’t, but they do, and they claim to be the party of tolerance and love and forgiveness when they’re the total opposite.”
