The Sobbing Stone (2005) User Reviews

God-awful

[hollywoodpsychic · 1/10 · 13 May 2014]

The Sobbing Stone is just about as bad as it gets, and that's not hyperbole. I think it cracked my bottom 10 list, and I watch a lot of bad movies. Even among the worst Lifetime Cable, zero-budget horror, shot-on-video Zen Cinema, and Christian rapture movies that I've seen, this is a low point. The Sobbing Stone is that bad.

This is a movie about a talking rock (which looks a lot like a malted milk ball) that sobs openly because of Jesus. A bunch of "scientists" sit around and listen to it and occasionally argue very passionately about science and religion. These scientists rarely make anything resembling a coherent argument (and they never use the scientific method in their approach) but in the end... SPOILER! ...they're all touched by the blood of Jesus and horrified into submission to the cross.

This movie is what happens when a small town church group decides to turn their Christian guilt into a regional embarrassment.

Much of the movie is shot without the aid of lighting and the few scenes that are lit manage to get the lighting equipment in the shot. You can also play "spot the boom pole" if that's your thing.

The bulk of the movie takes place in a classroom. When the story does venture beyond these walls, no effort is made at all to disguise Grandma's bedroom into looking like a believable location for the characters. Scenes depicting biblical events are cringe-inducing in their factitiousness.

Beware the positive reviews you might stumble upon, they lie. This movie isn't interesting. It isn't well-made. It does not contain a surprising twist or an effective revelation. It is not the work of a promising new director making the best of his small budget. The cast is not talented or good. The deaf girl does not have a future in acting. None of the kind words you might read about this pile are honest opinions, or, if they do represent someone's honest opinion it's the opinion of an idiot with wretched taste.

Put simply: This movie is incompetently written/directed/acted/edited/scored. It's simply god-awful. You would be best to watch just about anything else.

Oh, and I badly wanted to eat that chocolate ball the whole movie.

Unbelievable Waste of Time... and everything else

[gbrown-8 · 1/10 · 29 May 2007]

It is incomprehensible how this footage ever saw the light of day. I cannot believe a TV station would dare air it, even TBN, as just happened in Dallas. This work is so poor, in so many ways.

More recent critiques and comments in this area do offer some needed explanation for the failed script, acting, directing and all technical aspects of this... film. Even low budget indy writers and directors I know, would never make the rookie mistakes displayed here. They are simply inexcusable.

The concept for this script is so lame, I cannot imagine anything making it salvageable.

I cannot even justify a further investment of time to comment on it. What an embarrassment.

A religion of love, and a film that makes you hate everyone

[benjaminweber · 1/10 · 1 April 2018]

This film is amazingly incompetent at being a film. It feels like someone confused an internet argument between an atheist and a Christian for a film script, then filled in the gaps with stock sound effects. For a film that seems to be intended to defend Christianity against criticisms, it does nothing but attempt to pander to existing Christians, while accidentally raising some interesting points against Christianity, or at least certain particularly vocal Christians.

The film barely has a plot at all. There is no real character development, nothing really happens. In a way it's a genius piece of art, because it gets people to sit down to watch other people sit down and listen to a rock. The basic premise of a stone producing sounds could have made an interesting film, but instead it becomes a subplot to the main focus of this film: an atheist spontaneously abusing a Christian for being a Christian. Even then, the stone plot ends with a nonsensical non-twist, in which the historical inaccuracies are more entertaining than the actual plot. There's one other subplot about the professor's family, but that somehow makes just as little sense.

All in all, a terrible film. Still, it's so bad you can actually laugh at it, rather than being completely dull or just offensive, like an Adam Sandler film. Watch it, IF YOU CAN!

Sanctimony meets painfully obvious mystery.

[eqmanson-68588 · 1/10 · 7 February 2018]

The Christian movie tropes in The Sobbing Stone are more or less par for the course in this cinematic genre: scientists who know nothing of the scientific method; atheists who don't really disbelieve but are only angry at God because of something that happened to them as children; music with zero subtlety; location scouting with dubious results (does the slope of Golgotha really have lush trees and mown grass?); and so on. Sample words put in the mouth of atheists: "Science has proven that no god exists." (Wrong: atheists maintain that there is no reliable evidence, not that there is proof.) Sample words put in mouth of scientists: "There's no explanation for it; not even a theory." (In science a theory IS an explanation, one with firm evidentiary support). Sample scientific method: When a group of psychic researchers (I'm not sure the writer realized that is what you would label the Ghostbusters) are given the task for figuring out why the title stone is making noises, their first decision is "the professor says the sounds come randomly, so no sense recording times when sounds are observed." Right: deliberately avoid gathering data. Sample line: "Have you ever murdered someone?" Only in a Christian movie would the hearer of that line do anything but back away slowly, then turn and bolt.

The story, though conceptually a little clever, is particularly unsavory. It drives home the thesis that human beings are worthless, and that nobody, however well intentioned they may be, would have supported the saviour in his time of trial.

As a movie, it fails most fundamentally because its mystery's solution is detectable within minutes of the film's opening. Much of the acting is silly at best when it is not just embarrassing. The music seems to have been composed in whole notes entirely on the bottom octave of a synthesizer. The characters are utterly unlikeable (which I supposed matches the basic premise). And the camera work is just plain ugly to behold. There were numerous laugh-out-loud moments (like when one researcher speculates from the sounds of echoes around footsteps that it must have happened at night??) but most of the film is painful to watch due to its gross misrepresentation of, well, the quality of humanity. Not recommended to those who would watch it ironically; it will probably be eaten up by its target audience, if their cinematic expectations take an extreme backseat to their theological views.

A new low in Christian filmmaking.

[NoWireHangers · 1/10 · 17 April 2013]

This movie is terrible in so many ways. First, the story. It's an unusual one, which isn't a bad thing in itself, but "The Sobbing Stone" tries to be a mystery working up to a twist in the end, but fails miserably because the big revelation in the end is obvious from the beginning, which make the whole "story" pointless. There's lots of bad acting and tedious religious discussions that start out of nowhere not because it comes natural in the story but because the movie needs them because it is a Christian film and to pad the running time (basically there's a Christian character and an angry atheist who argue about who's the worst hypocrite and it turns out the atheist has some Freudian reason to dislike Christians because they remind him of his bad mother). Second, I can forgive a low budget feeling if a movie is well made but director and editor Robert G. Christie shows a complete lack of talent. I haven't seen such bad directing and editing in years. He seems to be unaware of such basics as the 180 degree rule.

There's really no reason to watch "The Sobbing Stone" unless you want to experience a new low in Christian filmmaking. This is a film that truly deserves its IMDb rating of 1,3/10. It makes movies like "C Me Dance" and "Spirits Among Us" look like Oscar material. This may very well be the worst Christian movie ever made outside of Nigeria (and at least "666, Beware the End is at Hand" had some entertainment value).

An insult to everyone's intelligence

[ethal-10611 · 1/10 · 28 June 2019]

Try this... Watch the movie in its entirety. Every time one of the "scientists" speaks, respond with phrases like "What?!" or "Huh?!" or "What you just said was nonsense." It will mesh perfectly with the dialogue. That pretty much sums up the quality of the writing on display here.

So bad, it's AMAZING

[naomiwashburn · 10/10 · 24 December 2013]

This is one of the most hilariously AWFUL movies I've ever seen. Incompetence shines from every frame of this train wreck, and it is GLORIOUS. Acting that would be deemed too poor for even the worst community theater? Check. Terrible, inconsistent, and sometimes missing sound? Double Check! A script so poorly written, so inconsistent, and so stupid that no one in the universe could ever take it seriously? TRIPLE CHECK. And, on top of that, they deliberately mis-classified the movie on netflix to try and get non-Christians to watch it. Classy. Bottom line, if you want to see some of the worst written Christian propaganda ever ineptly put to film, this movie is for you. I won't spoil the stone's secret, but it's so stupid your brain might not be able to handle it. I recommend getting together with some friends and a LOT of booze, then riffing the crap out of this.

The Sobbing Stone was a fantastic film indeed

[pennstatetull · 7/10 · 3 December 2005]

I am very pleased I went Gardels had great food and The Sobbing Stone was very good once you start watching it you can't stop ...I enjoyed the low budget film exp ...and even forgot that it was a small film budget I had heard the film was cast 3 times in the audience during filming , I could tell there was some kind of strange editing but all in all very entertaining I liked the Character Michael and The Prof I am sure this film has a place. I hope everyone can get a chance to watch it or pick it up somewhere I know I sat with 200 people that night it showed in Baltimore MD and the crowd seemed to be glued to every word although I am not much on that type of film I enjoyed it Great Job RC Features and all the local actors in that area

Tull

Robert G. Christie's Best!

[Flicks06 · 9/10 · 11 August 2006]

Great actors and rich content.

The Sobbing Stone tackles a difficult topic and does so from a unique perspective. Although a small part, Michelle Schaeffer gives a fantastic performance as the Professor's daughter, and could be a star in the making. A strong opening sequence kicks off the picture and use of special effects adds a mysterious element while not going over the top like many films in that genre do.

The music is haunting, the sound effects realistic and the ending leaves you in dismay. I have seen pictures by RCFeatures before, and this is Robert Christie's best one yet!

the sobbing stone

[carrow25 · 10/10 · 30 April 2006]

i watched the sobbing stone with my wife on the last weekend of April 2006. i read a review in christianfilmworks magazine. it caught my interest, so i contacted Mr.Christie and asked him if he would be willing to trade one of his movies for mine. i do trade a lot instead of buying, i'm no fun films. he was very friendly and sent me the trade right away. this impressed me right away, first that he was not stuck on himself, and that he was humble. so we watched it and enjoyed it very much. we give it two thumbs up! for a low budget movie we were very impressed. the ending was the only weak part, not bad, when i say weak it is not a criticism, because this was a hard movie to wrap up. i may have tried it differently. but that is me. Mr. Christie definitely gets top score on this film for doing so much with so little. Aaron

A moving film

[ctemple198 · 9/10 · 11 August 2006]

Contrary to some people's feelings on the film, I found Sobbing Stone to be quite a fascinating concept. If there was a lack of understanding to the plot, it came from a lack of attention span. It was pretty clear cut.

I always like to believe that I would have tried to stop Jesus from being crucified but in actuality, who knows? I could have been just as bad as the rest of the mob that was there.

As for the look of the film, I thought that the environment looked dark but considering the nature of the film, I thought it was appropriate.

Robert Christie did a phenomenal job with the budget that he had to work with and I would be very impressed if anyone could have done what he did with this film.

There is always room for growth in the entertainment industry and I think Robert just took a big step forward.

To All Naysayers

[jwheaton-1 · 10/10 · 12 August 2006]

To ALL Naysayers,, Certainly, everyone is entitled to their opinion. I'm sure if Mr. Christie were present, he would probably say exactly the same thing. However, there is a vast difference between voicing your opinion, and merely posting for the sheer sake of seeing your post on this forum. You may pat yourselves on the back for your "cleverness" at bad-mouthing the work of others, but some of you cross a line from opinion, to looking unintelligent and being just plain rude. Having watched The Sobbing Stone, I can tell you that nearly 100% of the faults found in this movie are due to a lack of budget, not from a lack of talent, creativity, or vision from the director. Without a budget, a filmmaker is extremely limited in his or her equipment, and crew. Without a budget, that also means you can't afford A list actors. A normal three to four month shoot gets narrowed down to three weeks at best. Without a budget, you can't afford the special effects one would like. This doesn't mean he, and the cast and crew, shouldn't be commended for their effort. At least they are doing something other than wasting their time on a board bad-mouthing others. Everyone starts somewhere. If the director was fortunate enough to be born into the business, or if he was a multi-millionaire, we all would be having quite a different discussion. Since he is not, he like everyone else in this industry, has to work their way up. I can assure you that he has the talent to one day command the necessary budget. Obviously, many others think so as well.

Utter silence at the end

[actor-50 · 11 August 2006]

The really cool thing about this movie is that it had that very eerie feeling to it and it made you think. I've got to admit I jumped a couple of times from my seat! Throughout the entire plot I pretty much felt a little "edgy" and that continued to build and by the ending..well...let's just say I and my buddies were pretty much choked up and silent at the same time. This is definitely a good movie to see if you want to have that swirl of emotions where things just hit you right in your heart. Also particularly liked the background music b/c I thought it added to the eeriness. I liked the acting as well - particularly liked the Professor and Alan - very real and convincing. The others were as well, but these two were by far my favorites. What I also thought was a really good element to this movie is that it can be watched by adults and kids alike. Adults because of the power and emotional impact that it can provide and kids because it sent a message w/o gore and sexual content. Anyways, I give it a thumbs up.

Unique and original.

[gbattlef · 8/10 · 30 August 2006]

As an enthusiast of independent films, I applaud the Sobbing Stone for it's originality and spirit. After viewing this work it was encouraging to know there are filmmakers out there willing to risk public scrutiny and undue criticism for their endeavors in spiritual matters. Although the film was a bit slow in the beginning the pace seemed to pick up soon after and, when the story did begin to unfold, we were treated to some fine performances and storytelling. I will encourage others to view the Sobbing Stone if anything for it's unabashed commitment and willingness to be an original work with fine storytelling. I'm sure the director has a place in the entertainment industry. There is a great void in Hollywood for this kind of material and it seems there are productions stepping up to the plate.

A terrific film with a surprising ending

[mjdistributor-2 · 10/10 · 26 September 2007]

I loved this film and think it portrayed an interesting and unique look at the sacrifice made for us two thousand years ago. I have seen the movie over 3 times, and each time it did not fail to keep me spellbound. I especially like the crowd scene and the ending scene. They both were very touching. I think the acting was very good and believable. The deaf girl did a very good job. I hope Mr. Robert Christie continues with his film-making and disregards disparaging remarks made by others that are suffering from "sour grapes" syndrome. More power to you and your actors....I hope we get to see more of your work in the near future. How about a sequel?