Review: ‘I Still Believe’s’ admirable story gets lost in execution

“I Still Believe,” based on the true story of Christian singer-songwriter Jeremy Camp (K.J. Apa) and the loss of his first wife, Melissa Henning (Britt Robertson), has a lot of heart and an admirable message, but it gets lost in its lackluster execution and stale narrative.

The film begins at Camp’s departure for college. About as soon as his dad (Gary Sinise) sends him on his way with a brand new guitar, we find Jeremy sneaking behind the stage to meet his Christian rock idol played by Nathan Parsons. Welcomed to stay as a stagehand, Jeremy spots his soon-to-be wife in the audience.

What unfolds is a waffling courtship as Jeremy feels he was destined to meet Melissa while she seems to feel contrite and indecisive. After learning Melissa has cancer, the relationship takes a serious turn, and the 20-somethings get married under the auspices of what they deem to be divine fate that they be together during this trial of faith. After a few months of marriage, Melissa dies, and Jeremy is left grappling with why their faith could not save her.

Per the title, the film’s central message explores the struggle of maintaining faith through the course of inexplicable suffering and loss. It is a universal question for the religious and secular alike.

But the universality of the question doesn’t save the film. In fact, its vague approach to theme and character is its undoing.

The filmmakers lean heavily on the true-life nature of the story, which is always a risk for a biopic. The writing leaves the characters trapped in their superficial archetype shells.

Maybe this was done out of an obligation to honor the people represented and thus narrative liberties are avoided, but it ultimately comes off as sheepish and bland storytelling lacking character development, emotional authenticity and sense of authorship. It seems the only goal of the story arch is to simply push through its true-life events.

Despite the stunted and wooden writing, Apa and Robertson deliver heartfelt and honed performances. They create a sense of humanity that the writing otherwise lacks. Robertson especially shines in scenes of Melissa’s emotional breakdowns through her cancer battle. What could easily dip into a misplaced melodramatic tone is pulled off by the actress’s confident emotional intuition.

The film’s photography and editing are at best adequate and procedural and often sloppy. Overall, nothing about the camera work seemed deliberate in concept or tact, and many emotional beats felt lost because of a lack of technique and sensibility.

“I Still Believe” is an earnest film with an amiable goal, but it leaves much to be desired. The film gets so hooked on delivering a sentiment that it lets everything else fall by the wayside.