Review: 'I Still Believe' is better as a love story than as a Christian sermon

The Christian-themed romance “I Still Believe” suffers when it’s busy being an overbearing Sunday-school lesson, but soars when it concentrates on the tragic, genuine — and true — love story at its heart.

K.J. Apa, currently breaking hearts as Archie Andrews on “Riverdale,” stars as popular Christian singer-songwriter Jeremy Camp, who we meet as he’s leaving his Indiana home for a California bible college. His parents (Gary Sinise and Shania Twain) give him one gift as he leaves: A new guitar.

Jeremy wants to be a successful Christian musician, and finds a mentor in Jean-Luc (singer Nathan Dean), who fronts a Christian country-rock band. Jean-Luc tells Jeremy to think less about how to succeed and more about what he wants to say through his music.

It’s through Jean-Luc that Jeremy meets another student at the college, Melissa Henning (Britt Robertson). Jeremy falls in love at first sight, in part because Melissa expresses her faith so authentically. Romance, or what passes for it at a bible college, blossoms between Melissa and Jeremy, but not without a hitch: Jean-Luc has a crush on Melissa, too, and she’s never had the nerve to talk him down.

That small crisis is averted, but a bigger one looms: Melissa learns she has cancer, and possibly only months to live. She’s confident that her faith, and her love for Jeremy, will provide the miracle that will save her. Meanwhile, Jeremy’s star is on the rise in the Christian-music scene, with fans moved by the stories Jeremy tells about his faith, and Melissa’s.

The Erwin Brothers, Andrew and Jon, are old hands in the Christian film scene, directing such faith-based titles as “Woodlawn” and “I Can Only Imagine.” Subtlety has never been their strong suit, and the script — by Jon Erin and Jon Gunn (adapted from Camp’s memoir) — lays the melodrama, and the faith-promoting speeches, on with a trowel. (Sidebar: Why on earth would you cast Shania Twain in a Christian music movie and not have her sing, even on the soundtrack?)

That said, there are joys to be had in “I Still Believe,” much of it in the chemistry between Apa and Robertson (who were similarly paired as the young lovers in the cornball “A Dog’s Purpose”). They approach the romance with spirit and sincerity, to the point where cynics might believe in them nearly as much as their characters believe in God.

——

‘I Still Believe’

★★1/2

Opens Friday, March 13, in theaters everywhere. Rated PG for thematic material. Running time: 115 minutes.