Primetime Conservative commentator Sean Hannity recently teamed up with the Hollywood husband and wife duo of Kevin and Sam Sorbo to release a film about hope and faith called “Let There Be Light.”
The late-October release has been well received by audiences and critics alike. During opening weekend, it yielded $1.9 million from 373 theatres and finished 11th at national box offices. The film earned high praise from often critical social media sites such as Rotten Tomatoes and was widely regarded as a wonderful film on Fandango. It appears these people of Faith have a winning movie on their hands.
The Christian drama follows the life of Dr. Sol Harkens, a staunch atheist tasked with reinventing himself after a near-death experience. The event forces him to re-examine his less than adequate fatherhood, everyday assumptions and profound loneliness.
But Sol Harkens is more than your run of the mill atheist in the film. He enjoys outright celebrity atheist status as a popular author and New York party animal. This masks the fact that he became estranged from his devout Christian wife after their beloved young son, Davey, died.
A major car accident leaves Sol dead on the table for four full minutes. He gravitates toward the spirit of his dead son who leaves him with a singular message, “Let there be light.” That prompts Sol to undertake a full inventory of his life.
Kevin Sorbo takes the leading role with his real life wife, Sam, who plays across from him as Katy Harkens. While Sean Hannity took on the executive producer responsibilities, some household names such as Dionne Warwick and Travis Tritt are also featured in the film.
Although the movie got off to a quick and popular start, the focus of this Christian team appears to be geared toward helping to restore Faith in ordinary people and not necessarily making big profits. Kevin Sorbo spoke about the Christian mission of curbing minds and bringing people back to places of good will on The Billy Hallowell Podcast.
“We live in a very, very dark world. It’s darker and darker all the time and the anger and frustration,” Kevin Sorbo reportedly said. “There’s so much hate out there.” But Sorbo also believes that people are “looking for something” to hold on to.
Sam Sorbo, who co-write the film, and Dan Gordon, pointed out that she was drawn to the plot because it represented an extreme conversion, one that starts with someone being renowned for atheism and progressing toward Faith.
“I needed to find something that really shook the Faith of an atheist and what I’ve discovered is that atheists have more Faith than most Christians,” she reportedly said. “They are so devout in their beliefs. I wanted something that was really unquestionable, that was really personal.”
The Christian drama runs 1 hour and 41 minutes and shows a powerful effort on the parts of the Sorbos and Hannity to bring an uplifting message of hope into Hollywood.
While Hollywood scandals seem to mount daily and the film-making industry has a long history of pedaling movies that are not suitable for families and run contrary to Christian decency. That is not to say that Hollywood is without shining examples of openly Christians stars such as Denzel Washington and Mel Gibson among others.
However, the message coming out of Hollywood has been far too laden with scandals to provide hope and Faith for the masses. As Kevin Sorbo noted about the importance of movies, “The media shapes the culture. Hollywood’s been reshaping the culture since the ’60s.”
Joining his executive producer and friend Sean Hannity on Fox network, Sorbo explained “The world has gotten more evil. And this movie is about bringing lightness to the darkness, because dark hates the light. People are looking for hope. They are looking for a glimmer of something positive in their lives, because so much negativity happens.”
“This is a story about how one man struggles to find his true identity, his Faith and how his decisions in life directly impact (things) all around him,” the 57-year-old former “Hercules” TV star said. “It’s a movie that will touch people in every way possible: mentally, emotionally and spiritually.”
“Let There Be Light” has been rated PG-13 and Kevin Sorbo has garnered positive feedback for his starring role. Faith-based movies such as this tend to be low performers at the box office against flashy, high-budget studio efforts. However, the positive opening, attendance and reviews seem to indicate that Sorbo is correct, people are looking for something more.
~ Christian Patriot Daily
