 Christian music fans will want to check out the movie “Hidden Secrets,” which features Rachael Lampa and Building 429. Lampa plays a fun girlfriend in the film, with a couple of lines, and many of her songs, from her self-titled 2004 release (her best to date), are on the soundtrack. Christian rock group Building 429 performs one song as a band in a restaurant, though why their band would be following a 1940s-style swing and boogie band at a swing dance doesn't make sense to me.
Released in 2006, it wasn't until 2009 that ChristianMusicDaily.com got a hold of this movie, because it's from the same people, Pure Flix Entertainment, who just made Rebecca St. James' new film, “Sarah's Choice.” Seems like Pure Flix likes putting Christian music stars into their films, and so far, so good.
“Hidden Secrets” is much more than a chance to see Rachael Lampa act or Building 429 perform a song. It's an offbeat drama about Christians and the secrets they keep. Following the “gun-to-the-head” death of a character named Chris in the first few minutes of the film, a whole bunch of people who knew him or knew someone who knew him gather together for the funeral. After that, the setting becomes a house where key characters all stay essentially for the weekend, during which their secrets are revealed to one another.
I literally cried within the first five minutes of “Hidden Secrets,” and then again, later on in the movie. As the film deals with matters of death, grief, loss and faith, this is an especially poignant tale. Yet there were also plenty of laugh out loud moments, mostly brought about by the ongoing barbs traded between the ultra-judgmental Christian character, Rhonda, played with lots of wicked bite by Autumn Paul, and the “half-Jewish” skeptical character played by John Schneider, the popular actor whom you remember from “The Dukes of Hazzard.” In the end, those two hug, but not before saying the most cruel, awful things to one another, which, truth be told, makes for a very entertaining storyline itself throughout the movie.
“Hidden Secrets” most powerful storyline, however, is the love triangle between old flames Jeremy (played by producer/writer/actor David A.R. White) and Sherry, played by “The Bold and the Beautiful” TV star Tracy Melchior, who does a terrific job whereas you really believe she is that character. Unexpectedly, one of her character's secrets is revealed toward the end of the film, which ultimately leads to her being able to free herself from the guilt she has carried for years. Poor Stacy Keanan--whom you might remember from the TV shows “Step By Step” and “My Two Dads”--her character, Rachel, thought she was going to marry Jeremy, but, in the end, he realizes Sherry is “the one.”
Corin Nemec, who I remember playing the snarky title character in the early 1990s Fox show “Parker Lewis Can't Lose,” plays a character in his thirties whose secret isn't revealed 'til the last part of the film, but when it's revealed, you can bet it gets a lot of attention. There's a climactic scene at the end of the film in church where preacher Wexler, played by “Family Matters” star Reginald Vel Johnson, handles everybody's spilling of their secrets and true feelings with great facial expressions as he says, “I think we need to end with a long prayer.”
“Hidden Secrets” is one of those rare Christian films that doesn't view the world through rose-colored glasses. It manages to make you laugh and cry with its clever lines, solid acting, and strong production value-- there's nothing cheap or too cheesy about this film. Furthermore, it covers a wide array of hot-button topics our world is dealing with these days, though the eyes of both Christians and non-Christians in a way that thankfully connects with the viewer. --Mark Weber, ChristianMusicDaily.com |
