Review of Dial a Prayer

Minor Spoilers Dial a prayer follows the story of Cora, who must work at a faith-based call service after attempting to burn down a church. Overall, I really like this movie. It's not your typical church movie where some supernatural force magically fixes everything, and you're supposed to walk away knowing God is real. Instead, this film provides its viewers with a thought-provoking perspective about both the good and bad of religious life without specifically commenting on if it is real or not. And as someone who grew up in a religious home, it's honestly nice to see a film that highlights a lot of the problems that "church" culture can have. Also, Brittany Snow's performance is amazing. She is one of my favorite actors, and she kills it in this movie. Cora is such a well written and complex character, and the way she interacts with her family and co-works was so relatable. Also, you could really feel the pain she was in at the start of the film, and the changes that happened to her made sense (except for her love life, which I will get too). Honestly, this is one of her best performances a long with Pitch perfect and Bushwick. It left me wanting more Cora in my life! With all that said, this film does have a few flaws. One, we don't really ever fully understand Cora's background or what happened at the church. Two, there are also times it is hard to know what is real and what is not. I think If they wanted Cora to have day-dreams, they should have made that clear and explained why she has them. Finally, and most importantly, the romance Between Cora and a man who I am not sure is even named is totally unnecessary and even cringe-worthy at times. The guy they got to be the love interest is an awful actor, and even Brittany Snow's great acting can't make you think they have chemistry. Also, why would she be in too him? He is a total creeper. And what is his motivation? The whole "You hurt my mom, but we banged so its good now" what?!? Who thought this would be a good message to send to women? If you are cute and fun, men will forgive you and want to be with you? It doesn't fit at all with the rest of the movie. And why should we want them to end up together? I think it would have been better if Cora was a strong independent woman who don't need no man at the end of the movie. In the end, the good way out ways the bad and the story of Cora is very interesting. I just think a few rewrites, no love story (or very limited), and a better ending would have made this a great movie. Nevertheless, Cora is a great character that I can see my self revisiting in the future.