Unsung Hero

Unsung Hero is the latest in the Christian music biopic subgenre, which also includes I Can Only Imagine and I Still Believe.  The title refers to Helen Smallbone (Daisy Betts), who is the mother of an Australian family with six children and another on the way and is arguably the focus of the film.  Joel Smallbone, the younger brother of the Christian artist Rebecca St. James, shares director and writing credits with Richard Ramsey as well, and would go on to form the band For King and Country with his brother Luke (here played by JJ Pantano).  Joel also plays Helen’s husband David, who promotes popular artists in Australia.  But after an economic collapse, things quickly go south when he loses everything, and they must move to America with nothing but their suitcases.

The opening sequences take place on a plane, with Helen reflecting on the events that led her and her family here.  Indeed, with those sideways-style flashbacks between past and present, including them saying goodbye to their relatives, the structure was that of an episode of Lost.  David’s father bore a striking resemblance to that grizzled bald guru John Locke, not to mention that he is a loving man with comforting pearls of wisdom for his son, such as “Your family is not in the way; they are the way!”  Unsurprisingly, he is indeed played by Terry O’Quinn, best known for the TV series.

But I digress: things keep spiraling from there as the Smallbone family is detained due to their visas, which are only valid for six months but can be extended to two years if need be.  They arrive at their new house in Nashville, only to find that there is no furniture, not even beds.  Helen remains optimistic and does her best to keep even the oldest children from despairing.  They soon find various means of making money, and the neighbors from their local church are more than generous.  Unfortunately, David is less than pleased with his series of Job-like trials and tribulations, especially when they find work cleaning the house of a Christian singer Eddie DeGarmo (Jonathan Jackson), who initially looks down on them as servants.  He is disillusioned and even angry at the fact that he cannot be the breadwinner, and instead is forced to accept charity from others.

I think Unsung Hero will play well for families who come out to see it this Friday, otherwise known as “Family Day”.  It is focused as much on the family as on the titular, long-suffering heroine.  Even if most movies in this genre play out the same way, this one is surprisingly unconventional.  Additionally, it succeeds in its casting, with Betts, Smallbone, and O’Quinn delivering fantastic performances, not to mention Kirrilee Berger as the rising star whose father wants to protect her from the harsh realities of a musical career.

That it cannot flesh out every one of the children as much as it does the key players here is to be expected.  While I walked away only remembering the names of Helen, David, etc., I still would have liked to have a little more in the way of personality from the rest.  But then this fairly breezy movie, which clocks in at just under two hours, would have been even longer.  It set out to tell a certain story, and it delivers quite well.  I may not have been impacted by the film as much as by Cabrini earlier this year, but this is still definitely worth your time and money.

Rated PG for thematic elements.

1 hour, 53 minutes