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SAVING SHILOH

"Christian Charity Overcomes Sinful Hearts"

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Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

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What You Need To Know:

SAVING SHILOH is a wonderful, redemptive low-budget family movie. The third in a series of movies about a 12-year-old boy and his dog, the movie takes off where the last one ended. Shiloh's new owner, Marty, has reconciled with Judd, Shiloh's mean former owner. Shiloh is still afraid of Judd. A murdered body and some burglaries focus the town's suspicion on Judd. These events put a new strain on Marty's fragile friendship with Judd. Marty's father doesn't believe Judd could murder anybody, however. Encouraged by his parents, Marty does a series of kindly acts to help Judd repent from the meanness he's known all his life.

SAVING SHILOH is a quiet little movie that gains redemptive, emotional power along the way. The acting is very good, especially Scott Wilson as Judd. The movie's Christian elements could have been stronger and more overt, but it is still a tremendously positive moviegoing experience for the entire family. SAVING SHILOH shows that Christian charity can overcome sinful hearts. The movie contains one light profanity and some tense situations. Also, Judd loses his temper once and chews tobacco. SAVING SHILOH is worth searching out.

Content:

(CC, BBB, PP, Cap, L, V, A, D, M) Strong, but implied Christian worldview with very strong moral, biblical elements advocating "Love thy neighbor" and "Do unto others. . ." and forgiveness, plus family starts what seems to be a Christian prayer, but scene cuts off before father starts the prayer, and brief school discussion about United States Constitution and American values such as "Justice for all" and "innocent until proven guilty" and positive depiction of small-town American life and running a business; zero obscenities and one light exclamatory profanity; some light violence and tense moments putting animal and children in danger, such as man accidentally steps on dog's paw, angry man picks up and throws dog against fence while dog is biting his leg, men chase boys, reference to murdered body being found, animal and two children in danger of drowning, fighting broken up in flashback scene, and burglar run off; no sex; no nudity; implied alcohol use; no smoking but man chews and spits tobacco; and, talk about a series of burglaries, two attempted burglaries stopped, man has trouble with his temper, disobedient children get into trouble but boy narrator talks of getting parental punishment and love at the same time after incident, two mentions of Santa Claus, mean man says his father used to beat him but other father characters are positive, gossip rebuked, and talk about opening your heart but talk is placed in redemptive, moral context of forgiveness and doing good deeds.

More Detail:

SAVING SHILOH is a wonderful, redemptive low-budget family movie. It may not be playing during the evenings, however, so you and your family may have to look for it in the afternoon theater listings.

The third in a series of movies about a boy and his dog, the new movie takes off where the last one began. Shiloh’s new owner, a young teenager named Marty, has reconciled with Judd, the mean former owner. Shiloh, however, is still afraid of Judd, who’s still limping because of a recent truck accident injury.

The town is abuzz concerning the disappearance of a man about the same time as Judd’s accident. Before the man disappeared, he was seen arguing with Judd in a bar. Almost everybody in town, including Marty’s best friend, thinks Judd had something to do with the man’s disappearance. The man’s dead, murdered body is found down the river. At the same time, a series of burglaries strikes the town. Of course, suspicion lands on poor Judd for both the murder and the thefts.

These events put a new strain on Marty’s fragile friendship with Judd. Marty’s father doesn’t believe Judd could murder anybody, however. Encouraged by his parents, Marty does a series of kindly acts to help Judd repent from the meanness he’s known all his life.

SAVING SHILOH is a quiet little movie that gains redemptive, emotional power along the way. The acting is very good, including Scott Wilson as Judd, Gerald McRaney as Marty’s father, Jason Dolley as Marty, Ann Dowd as Marty’s mother, and Kyle Chavarria as Marty’s aggravating sister Dara Lynn. Marty’s dog is very cute without being corny.

The movie’s Christian elements could have been stronger and more overt, but its story is still a tremendously positive experience for the entire family. SAVING SHILOH shows what the phrases “Love thy neighbor” and “Do unto others” truly mean. If you had to break the movie’s moral messages down into a simple premise, you might do no better than saying, SAVING SHILOH proves the premise that Christian charity overcomes sinful hearts. Even the town’s gossiping tongues are stilled by Marty’s acts of grace toward Judd. This is pretty profound stuff for a little, low-budget movie like this.

SAVING SHILOH contains one light exclamatory profanity and some tense situations. Also, Judd loses his temper once and he chews tobacco.