Same Kind of Different as Me

source: Same Kind of Different as Me

Based on the true story of Deborah (Renée Zellweger) and Ron Hall (Greg Kinnear), a wealthy Texas couple who befriended a violent and intimidating homeless man dubbed Suicide but named Denver (Djimon Hounsou), this heartfelt tear-jerking retelling captures the essence if not the full depth of the relationship that transformed these three, the Hall's children and their community. Central to the movie is Debbie's character, whose faith drives her to forgive Ron's dalliance and involve him in her outreach work at the Union Gospel Mission in Fort Worth. Through a dream, she sees a man that will change the world; that man is manifested in Suicide, a large homeless loner that swings a baseball bat at whomever he feels threatened by at the mission. Debbie pushes a reluctant Ron to reach out to Suicide; Ron learns Suicide's name is Denver, and his harrowing background. The three of them steadily form a friendship and relationship of trust that includes their children Regan (Olivia Holt) and Carson (Austin Filson). Unfortunately, as Denver predicts, because Debbie is making a positive impact on the world for the Lord, she attracts of the attention of His enemy, and is stricken with terminal cancer. However, she deals with her illness most gracefully and there are some sweet family moments to the end. For fans of the book (like me), as is typically the case, there are some significant differences between the book and this movie including the focus of the title itself: the funeral speech draws a link between Denver and Debbie whereas the book's title refers to the sameness between Denver and Ron! Several important scenes have been altered (e.g. Denver praying outside Debbie's hospital has been replaced with a scene of the two of them sitting silently tearful on a bench) or cut (Denver doesn't drive Regan cross country) and Ron's entire background has been left out (though it's alluded to through the retrospective plot device of his writing the book) while an alternative storyline with his father Earl (Jon Voight) has been inserted (as a proxy for Denver's care of Mr. Ballantine?). That being said, I'm still recommending the movie as the book's essential themes of love - and how that is manifested in outreach to the poor, forgiveness and hope are still intact. The closing credits indicate that this was a 2016 production; the movie was originally slated for release in April, 2016, which was then pushed to February, 2017 before it was finally released on October 20, 2017. Besides the shift from Paramount Pictures to Pure Flix Entertainment for distribution, there may also have been other changes (reshoots and reediting?) that account for these delays.

Moral of the movie: Posh goodhearted white folks can turn poor bad-tempered black man into angels. Irresponsibly racist, classist and cliché. References to Christianity are old news. Relationships between characters are old news (plus purely built). Everything in the movie is old news. And old news told at a very slow pace. Will this torture ever finish? Wait, they always have a couple of more clichés up the sleeve. To all of this, add a last minute son-father reconciliation and you have the perfect recipe to arrive to a simple adjective: Unwatchable!

This is one of the most unwatchable movies I have ever tried to watch. Honestly, after 10 minutes in you will be questioning why you spent 10 minutes on this film.

This film was made by well-intentioned and decent people, who wanted to tell a heartwarming story based on real events. Unfortunately, the movie was overwhelmed by sentimentality without offering a logic to the events it sought to portray. Debbie is the controlling figure as "a girl with a heart so big that Texas can't hold it." She forgives her husband Ron for an affair that nearly destroys their marriage. Years later, when she is dying of cancer, the saintly Debbie says that the adultery was a good thing. The constant spinning of real life calamity into the theme of "God works in mysterious ways" is the heart and soul of this film. But the film fails to acknowledge that there were some genuinely cruel characters being depicted. One malicious woman tips off Debbie to Ron's affair. A similarly callous wife of the doctor is the first to inform Debbie that she is "terminal" with her cancer. A racist politely asks Ron to stop bringing "the Negro" to the swanky club. And the Scrooge-like father of Ron is the most callow of all...until his unexpected, Scrooge-like reformation at the end. The most interesting character was Denver, the homeless man filled with secrets of the heart, whose potential is recognized by Debbie while working in a "mission" serving hot meals to the homeless. But whereas we clearly follow the transformation of Denver into a wise and articulate self-sufficient individual and, by his speech, an accomplished poet, he curiously remained homeless, living in the bushes through the entire action of the film. It was not until the closing credits that we learn how Denver assisted Ron Hall with the book that became a spiritual bestseller, then accompanied him on the lecture circuit. One especially human trait that is left unexamined in this motion picture was the human emotion of guilt. Ron clearly is driven to help out at the mission by the guilt of adultery and for selling Debbie's anniversary gift of the Mary Cassatt painting, then replacing it with a copy. Debbie is motivated by the guilt of her gaudy, opulent, shallow lifestyle to work at the mission and "dream" of a new man entering her life with obvious sexual innuendo. Denver is guilt-ridden for having committed murder while imprisoned at Angola. And the guilt finally catches up to the mean-spirited ex-soda salesman father of Ron. If the collective guilt experienced by these characters had been examined thoughtfully by the film artists, "Same Kind of Different as Men" might have been elevated from a mundane soap opera into more profound existential film about genuine human realities. If that had happened, it might have been possible for Ron to address his father as "Dad," as opposed to "Earl."

I am not a regular viewer of Christian films, and I was kind of surprised that this film is considered one. But I guess when the initial distributor dropped the picture at the last minute, a Christian company picked it up. But why, if a movie conveys decent human values, and there happen to be a couple of scenes in a church, is it pigeonholed? It's message is not overtly Christian, yet it is so powerful it should speak to anyone, religious or not. I was truly shocked to read that the critics' reviews were not entirely favourable, that they thought it saccharine, and simplistic in terms of racial issues. Because of a dream, a couple of rich white folks befriend an old homeless black man, and it changes not only their three lives but those of many people in the community. I don't think that's self-congratulatory; it's TRUE! I thought all the characters were well developed, given that there wasn't a ton of backstory, but just enough. They were portrayed fairly but all they faced demons in their own ways. I was so moved and touched by the story, especially by the truly stunning acting of Djimon Hounsou, and by the scenes of his childhood in Jim Crow Louisiana. I'd easily see this again just for Hounsou's acting alone. What would anyone want to change? I am baffled.

Well, i saw this movie as a test based on the ultranegative vs.the ultrasuperlativ reviews given on imdb. and i have no difficulty giving it a strong 10 on my review.. its a film of emotions on different depths,life on different stages,black and white, fun,grief,surprise,warmth,even as death arrives. i kinda love the use of a poor and lonely redemption man character, and appreciate the absence of hypocracy staged in this movie.i like the use of flashbacks giving even more depth to the story i'm not a man of tears,so i may have to borrow some of yours,cause it touched some of the innermost emotional strings of my soul. as a film product it has brilliant locations,filmography,light and sound setting, and an immersive musical score. some slow parts,but that gives you time to think... the main actors does the job, the winner ticket is to SHUT UP AND LISTEN WHEN YOU SHALL LISTEN TO THE ONE YOU LISTEN TO. thank god there are movies like this......

This film would have been great if novice writer/producer/director Michael Carney didn't hack the screenplay and knew how to direct the scenes properly. The pace was dragged out too long and either the editing was just as bad or the screenplay was that poor. The acting could have been better (maybe also the directors fault for not directing his cast properly?), especially from Greg Kinnear, but Djimon Hounsou stole the show with his outstanding performance. This film lost its potential with all these flaws and it missed the mark for me. Would I recommend it? Yes, it's a great and inspirational true story. Would I see it again? Nope. A generous 7/10 from me

We were excited to see this film. We like almost any film that is "based on a true story". We especially like the "follow up" that comes at the end of such movies. "Same Kind" was not a disappointment on either front. It was powerful. It was deep. It was very dramatic. It was an eye-opener. I think I spent the last 30 minutes with tears in my eyes--but good tears. Would highly recommend this as a "must see" movie.

That this movie has not received the publicity and advanced advertising that it truly deserves is shameful -- the producers and production studio should be ashamed of themselves and they will reap their due reward from low attendance and most likely box office profit loss. This film definitely is worth its proverbial weight (cost) in gold. First and foremost is the plot itself, which propels the human instinct of avoidance of the uncomfortable, as with dirty homeless people, to a higher plane of reaching out, in caring rather than invasive ways, in order to actually help those less fortunate despite their social handicaps. That there is a Christian spirit about this movie is without doubt, but there is no specific religious dogma or theology. There is no "action", there is no graphic violence, there is no nudity, there is no profanity -- how completely refreshing in a movie. It is all character and dialog driven -- the acting is absolutely top notch, the dialog thoughtful and smart. The theme: reconciliation in all of our weakened or seemingly broken relationships if possible, with the onus being on ourselves to make the effort, in other words doing what we can to heal ourselves, and then being able to effectively, meaningfully reach out to and help those less fortunate, with respect rather than pity. This movie is a true treasure which, sadly I fear, will be missed by a very large audience due to lack of effective promotion.