The more I learn about the upcoming Billy Graham movie, the more skeptical I am. Several years ago, I read his autobiography — all 820 pages! — and came away 
with an even deeper respect for the iconic evangelist. He is a beloved figure among Christians — a man listed by the Gallup organization as one of the “Ten Most Admired Men in the World” an unmatched 51 times — which may work against the makers of Billy: The Early Years.
The film is set to be released early October, less than one month before Graham’s 90th birthday. 21-year-old actor Armie Hammer plays the part of Graham as a young man at the crossroads of faith, en route to becoming one of history’s most influential evangelists. However, if the recent criticisms by Franklin Graham are any indication, the movie may be in trouble.
From The Charlotte Observer:
Franklin Graham has criticized the new feature film about his famous Charlotte-born father, saying “Billy: The Early Years” includes a few scenes that never happened in real life and others that are “greatly embellished.”
“My father’s life has been documented in many ways and I have always appreciated those who painstakingly sought to tell his story accurately,” Franklin Graham said in a statement posted Monday on the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association Web site, www.billygraham.org.
The younger Graham, CEO of the Charlotte-based group, also made it clear that he and the BGEA neither collaborated with the filmmakers nor endorsed their movie – due in theaters Oct. 10.
His spokesman, Mark DeMoss, said Tuesday that Graham put out the statement not to hurt the film – “he doesn’t care if people see it.” Rather, he worried that some pastors who have agreed to host preview screenings in their churches were under the mistaken impression that the movie was somehow authorized by the BGEA.
Is it just me, or is Franklin Graham turning a pretty cold shoulder to the movie? Maybe it’s protocol for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) to distance itself from cinematic recreations of the evangelist’s life. However, this is more than lukewarm — it’s chilly. But perhaps the crux of their concerns is revealed in the following:
In his short, but sharp posting about the movie, Franklin Graham also faulted the film for not sharing what he calls his father’s passion to preach the Gospel.
“He felt there was not sufficient treatment of his father preaching, and when he was preaching, it was watered-down,” DeMoss said.
“Watered-down preaching”?! Gee, I can’t imagine Hollywood ever doing that. Early in his ministry, the period covered by the film, Graham was known for his fiery sermons. If secular filmmakers were to tweak anything, I can see them wanting to tweak that. However, Billy Graham’s preaching is to his life what Johnny Cash’s music was to his. To downplay or tamper with that is almost sacrilegious.
Over the next few weeks, the movie’s producers will be holding more than 50 screenings for evangelical “opinion makers” across the Bible Belt hoping to generate buzz among evangelical viewers. But I can’t help but have bad feelings about this movie. Hollywood is notorious for not getting religion right. It’s why discussions like THIS ONE at Jeffrey Overstreet’s site go on. It is far easier to find biased, exaggerated, inaccurate portrayals of Christians in cinema, than realistic ones. I can only hope that in handling one of Christendom’s most revered modern figures, the filmmakers get this one right.
