“Wesley” The Movie Does not Disappoint – A Review

Photos courtesy of Foundery Pictures

Although nearly 75 million Christians worldwide can trace their local church lineage back to John Wesley, including Methodists, Pentecostals and Nazarenes just to name a few, it has been over 50 years since there has been a full-length motion-picture made on this amazing man. There has been scant little film or television portrayals of of this iconic figure in Christian history.

No more!

Director John Jackman has painted a beautiful, moving, and surprisingly accurate new film portraying the early life of the founder of the Christian movement that came to be known as Methodism. I am convinced that the director has attained his goal of making a film that will appeal to moviegoers of all faiths and will warm their hearts as much as Wesley claims that his was after his Aldersgate experience. With the goal of staying as true to the life of John and Charles Wesley as possible, Jackman intently studied the personal journals of both men and the result is a movie that all should enjoy.

The story begins with John and Charles Wesley’s (portrayed by Burgess Jenkins and R. Keith Harris, respectively) “Holy Club” days at Oxford. I was delightfully surprised to see the influential Great Awakening preacher in the person of a young George Whitefield (Paul Miller) join the Wesley brothers Holy Club meetings. Throughout the first half of the movie are a number of flashbacks to John Wesley’s childhood days, including instructions from Susanna Wesley (June Lockhart, the mom on “Lassie” and “Lost in Space”) to her children on piety and strict religious adherence. The fire at the Epworth rectory, which convinced a young John Wesley that God had a special plan for his life, is frequently remembered.

As the movie unfolds to John Wesley’s missionary trip to the Georgia colony, it becomes apparent that John Wesley is deeply troubled by a sense that he is not doing enough to secure his salvation. During the ocean voyage where John becomes acquainted with the Moravians, it becomes quite clear that Wesley is becoming increasingly aware that there is something crucial lacking in his faith. The storm scene where the Wesley brothers fear for their lives’ while the Moravians are calmly praying and singing hymns is a great moment in the film. Despite his constant focus on legalistic piety and moralism, he admits to one of the Moravians that he has not experienced the inner attestation from the Spirit assuring him that he is a child of God. Although the cinematography of the ocean voyage portion of the movie was a bit disappointing, the interaction with the Moravians captured the perplexity of the young Wesley as he wondered what element of his faith was lacking.

Throughout his time in the Georgia colony, Wesley’s self-doubt and inner conflict grows. His failed romance with Sophie Hopkey (Carrie Ann Hunt) was well depicted, and there was a very good chemistry between the two. A significant portion of the movie is set during Wesley’s experience in Georgia, and I felt John Wesley’s inner anguish as one thing after another seemingly went wrong for him. His continued interaction with the Moravian settlers, his research into herbal remedies as well as all of his struggles and fears are all captured. His sense of personal failure when he leaves Savannah with legal charges pending against him for refusing communion to Sophie is very tangible.

Back in England, John is reunited with his brother Charles, who continues to try and reassure his troubled older brother. Throughout the movie the bond between the two brothers is emphasized. But neither Charles nor John’s new friend, Moravian missionary Peter Boehler (Bill Oberst, Jr.) is able to reassure the dejected and depressed John Wesley. The movie builds to John Wesley’s famous Aldersgate Street experience, where, during a reading of Martin Luther’s preface to Romans, John “feels his heart strangely warmed” and finally understands that it is not by good works, but by grace that he is saved.

From there, the film shows a newly energized John Wesley as he goes about taking the Methodist revival throughout England. We get to see George Whitefield again as he convinces John to begin preaching in the open air after most of the established churches kicked Wesley out. There is a scene where a mob, paid by one of the incensed mine-owners to get rid of Wesley, comes after John at a house that he is staying at. John boldly confronts the mob and ends up converting most of them. As Wesley continues to take his preaching to open fields and begins to send out lay preachers, the opposition from the established Church of England continues to build and leads to a confrontation with a local bishop to whom Wesley proclaims that “The world is my parish!”

The movie does a good job of conveying its message of “A heart transformed can change the world.” The first half of the movie focuses a pre-Aldersgate John Wesley who, although talented and dedicated to God, is quite the moralist and who, because of his failure to understand grace, can neither apply that grace to himself or others.  The second half of the movie focuses on the transformed John Wesley who is fearless in his mission to reveal the fullness of God’s grace to as many people as he possibly can. The self-doubt and sense of superiority is gone, washed away by the realization that “an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”

Although the movie was produced at a budget of less than 1 million dollars, I found it to be one of the better Christian films that I have seen. There are very few moments where the film drags, and I felt that Jackman’s attempts to stay true to Wesley’s journals paid off. I think that Christians of any tradition will enjoy and appreciate this film, and it is a must see for anyone in the Methodist tradition who wants to know more about the founder of Methodism.

More on the movie including screenings and DVD release can be found at Wesley The Movie.