The other night my family watched a great Dove family approved film called The Woodcarver. It releases on DVD next Tuesday, March 13th. This movie stars John Ratzenberger. (He is probably best known for playing mail carrier Cliff Clavin on the sitcom Cheers.) My children know him from his voice parts in Pixar’s films. (Hamm the Piggy Bank in Toy Story, The Abominable Snowman in Monsters, Inc. Mack the truck in Cars, etc.) Recently, he played a guardian angel in the movie What If.

Ernest, Ratzzenberger’s character in The Woodcarver, is down to earth and one that you will find yourself being drawn to.  The movie deals with real life issues that many face like parenting, marriage, divorce, work integrity, and the loss of a loved one.

Movie Synopsis:

Matthew Stevenson is a troubled kid from a broken home. When he vandalizes the local church to get back at his parents, Matthew has to repair the damage to the church to avoid criminal charges. While working at the church, he meets Ernest (John Ratzenberger), an accomplished wood carver who created the intricate woodwork decoration that Matthew destroyed. Ernest has become something of a hermit, but reluctantly comes out of reclusion to help repair the church. Now Ernest and Matthew must work together to preserve the church’s beautiful antiquity, and along the way, they also manage to restore their faith in God and in life.

I will say that this is one movie that I could not find any faults with. Trust me, I looked. The only thing that was a little strange was the way the Baptist pastor dressed like a Catholic priest. My husband is a Baptist pastor, so of course I would notice something like that. Most people wouldn’t care. But honestly, I really enjoyed this movie. My oldest son commented about the ending; he didn’t like it. But without giving it away, I will say that I thought it was a good portrayal of the reality of life. It was very touching. So go rent it on March 13th and find out for yourself.

The movie tagline is “Restoring their faith in God and in Life”. So a word to movie producers, keep up the good work by producing more movies like The Woodcarver and my faith just might be restored in the movie industry.

**  I wish I could send everyone a copy of this DVD, but I only have one to give away.  So leave a comment and I’ll pick one winner on March 13th to receive The Woodcarver DVD.

Disclaimer:  I received “The Woodcarver” DVD in exchange for an honest review.   I do not receive any other form of compensation for the reviews posted on this blog.