aserpentperplexed
This movie is meant as a Christian faith-based counterpart to "Fifty Shades of Grey", which is fine in theory. You can tell this because it came out around the same time, and if you read some of the other user reviews many people saw it that way. The poster reads "Love is Patient. Love is Kind. Love is... OLD FASHIONED". Love is also NOT something that this movie understands very well though... Now look, the concept that one would not have sex until they are married is a pretty common one, and there is NOTHING WRONG with that. However, there is something VERY WRONG with how Clay, the film's protagonist, interprets this concept. See, Clay says early on in the movie, "I made a promise, to never be alone with any woman who's not my wife". This is taking the concept of no sex before marriage to an extreme! You can absolutely be alone with a woman AND NOT HAVE SEX WITH HER! You can have friends who are women, whom you don't sleep with. You can get to know a woman in a totally asexual way, you know, what is she like AS A PERSON? When Clay says something like this, it implies that he is unable to control his sexual urges, and fears that he will be unable to resist the temptation of sex if he is simply alone with another woman. Rather than learning how to control his own urges and resist temptation, he would rather HIDE from them and not have to deal with them. That's not Christian, that's irresponsible. You CAN'T hide from Satan and the evils of the world, you have to resist his temptation, like Jesus did in the desert. It also has a very... rape-y vibe to it? I'm sure that's not the movie's intent, but that's how it comes off in the modern age.Clay also has some ill-informed ideas about what a date is. At one point he says to his friend, "Most people know more about someone after a job interview for delivering pizzas than after most dates". This shows a complete misunderstanding about what a date is. He thinks all dates are one night stands where the only goal is to get into bed with someone and never speak to them again the next day. We know this because it's Brad's behaviour, whose lifestyle Clay disapproves of. In reality, NOT ALL DATES ARE ONE NIGHT STANDS! A date does not necessitate sex. Maybe you two just want to get to know each other, see how your personalities and beliefs match up, find out whether or not you'd make a good couple (for marriage or otherwise), and you know, just generally find out what they're like AS A PERSON!?!?On top of this, Clay's definition of "treating a girl right" is also damaging to a woman's self esteem, he is only better than Brad in that he only dates ONE woman! Whenever Amber tries to ask her own questions or get more answers out of Clay, Clay shuts her down. He is annoyed if she doesn't answer his questions RIGHT AWAY. So much for "Love is patient... Love is kind..." On their second date she turns the radio on and Brad starts spewing his sexist garbage, Clay and Amber both make fun of him. But when Amber tries to have a real discussion about it, Clay shuts her down by saying, "Hey you wanted to turn the radio on, not me! Let's get back to the book". God forbid they have an ACTUAL DISCUSSION ABOUT SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO HER!!! Even when Clay lets her choose what to do on their next date, she has him pick it out of a box, you know, so that he still feels like HE'S in charge... What's really funny is, this is one of the big complaints many people make about "Fifty Shades of Grey", Christian Grey dominates the will of the leading woman! Replace Grey's desire for S&M with a desire for making a mother out of her, and you have Clay (in a motivational sense).Let's take a look at what love is, according to the Bible that I assume Clay is familiar with: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth" 1 Corinthians 13:4-5. I've mentioned how Clay is often IMPATIENT and EASILY- ANGERED with Amber on their dates. This also makes it hard for him to REJOICE WITH THE TRUTH doesn't it? He often lectures to Amber and his friends on how their ways are wrong, which seems pretty PROUD to me. Clay only sees Amber as the future mother of his children and often shuts down her opinions, he's SELF-SEEKING. At one point he reads the church book and asks Amber "How many sexual partners have you had in the past ten years?", which sounds to me like he's trying to KEEP A RECORD OF HER WRONGS. There are many aspects of love which Clay clearly has no interest in keeping in mind.The "values" that this movie's protagonist espouse about relationships ARE NOT Christian VALUES. They are the values of someone who does not want to take responsibility for his own actions, who doesn't understand how relationships and dating works, who has little interest in understanding who is love interest is as a person, and who is more concerned with turning everyone around him into straw men for his confused philosophy about love. And since the ACTOR who plays the protagonist is also the WRITER AND DIRECTOR of the movie, I'm guessing these are his values, and he needs to seek help. Maybe from a psychologist, or maybe from an understanding Christian minister who isn't absolutely insane.
Lisa Edens
I saw Old Fashioned in February 2015 the weekend it came out. This beautiful movie has touched my life and challenged me in so many ways it's such a blessing. I love how it took Clay and Amber two different people with broken lives in different respects and brought them together. They learned the good, bad and ugly. Aunt Zelda was the wise beautiful Grandmother to Clay. A total hoot to boot! Also, I love how Clay's character showed over and over in big and small ways like how loving and compassionate to Zelda when her hands started to hurt and he put the cream on them. It was beautiful how as their relationship grew Amber was starting to read the Bible and lean on God's word. The sweet playfulness of the characters back and forth was clean. I'm so proud to tell everybody about this beautiful film about courtship and it's a awesome movie to use with a youth group and with your own teenagers. The scenery is gorgeous. The ending gets me every time. I'm in tears, absolutely love every minute about this film. Most importantly, it's taught me that there's hope that there's a "Clay" out there for me, one day, in God's timing and his will. I've been following OF every since it's release the seeds it's planted all over the US is so amazing and now the seeds are blooming in our Country and it's moving over into other Countries as well. I never get tired of watching it alone, or with friends. Praise God! Don't ever be ashamed of making a vow of Purity or setting boundaries! If someone is making you feel that way, Run the opposite way VERY fast! Thank you, Rik Swartzwelder and everyone involved with OF!
Amy Adler
Amber (Elizabeth Roberts) is a pretty lady with a checkered past. She married young and the union didn't last long; she has had a few other bad choices in relationships. Whenever the going gets tough, Amber gets going and starts driving away. Running out of gas, she lands in a small Midwestern town and decides to stay. Very quickly, Amber finds a job in a floral shop and rents an apartment above an antique store. The establishment's owner, Clay (Rik Swartzwelder who also wrote the fine script) is a very unusual man. He doesn't "date" and he refuses to be in the same room alone with a woman who is not his wife. Thus, when an appliance breaks in Amber's apartment, she must step outside while Clay fixes it. Clay relates that he is a Christian man and has a firm direction, now, in life. Yet, without a doubt, he thinks Amber is pretty and she believes him handsome. Slowly, something akin to a twosome starts building. Shunning dates, Clay and Amber nevertheless trek to places together, like the hardware store, the library, and the grocery. Yet, Amber is startled to learn that Clay was once a "player" on college and that HE STILL is friends with a radio shock jock who Amber abhors. Most importantly, Amber may go on to another town, for Clay seems unable to declare his feelings. Will it be a happy or sad finish? This very lovely Pureflix film has two great things going in the lead thespians. Roberts is beautiful and funny as the troubled Amber while Swartzwelder is very handsome and compelling as Clay. Not only that, he WROTE the nice script, also. All of the supporting cast, not well known, do a fine job as well, while the scenery, costumes and photography are top notch. There are a couple of scenes that may confuse viewers, as they seem to display not quite Christian values but ultimately do. Released as a foil to the very objectionable Fifty Shades of Grey, this nice romantic drama will please those seeking the same.
