This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
The best defense is a good offense.
Plot Overview
Pat's peripatetic punk four-piece The Ain't Rights alights at a whitey watering hole in western Oregon (“This is a movement, not a party.”) Before they quit the premises, though, they witness (“Oh, shit!”) “something terrible” delaying their departure (“We're not keeping you; you're just staying.”) They're not on social media—“When you take it all virtual you lose the texture”—so nobody hardly knows where they are. But the hypothetical question who is their desert band now has the de facto answer of the headliner Kowcatchers. A ‘cowcatcher’ is a device for shunting aside obstacles, and they themselves are the obstacles to hiding a crime, whom the club's owner Darcy (Patrick Stewart) with the assistance of his committed skinheads attempts to “forensically” remove.
Ideology
Although “Green Room” is about neither Christianity nor marriage, in an artistic sense it re-balances the force of such current teachings. Various epistles treat with a wife's subjection to her husband and a husband's love for his wife. As it's currently being taught the preacher/teacher skips over the former and doubles down on the latter, making the husband's goal to be a super love machine who will just melt his wife's heart so she'll go along with him. The morning of the day I went to see this show, the radio preacher got even more ambitious saying the Bible doesn't tell a husband to command his wife or give her orders, just to love her. Evidently he's thinking of some verses but not others.
Paul wrote, (1Cor. 9:5) “Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?” He was using familiar wording from the Old Testament where Abraham's servant led away Rebekah to be Isaac's wife, (Gen. 24:60-61) “And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them. And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man: and the servant took Rebekah, and went his way.” Paul who was single nevertheless had the option of marrying someone's sister and leading her away, as well as eating their food (1Cor. 9:4) and receiving a stipend for his ministry (1Cor. 9:6). We do speak of “leading” a wife just as we do about leading a dance partner, but Paul here likens his option to the way a wife is led by “other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas [aka Peter].” The apostles did on occasion order or command women to dress and/or act in certain ways, so it can be presumed they'll order or command their own wives if necessary. “The brethren of the Lord” would include his cousins in the broad meaning of the term, and although the Lord's cousin John Baptist wasn't himself married, he was the stern preacher and who knows how much the other cousins took after him in ordering and commanding their particular wives? In our movie it was the contact's cousin who being a skinhead set up The Ain't Rights to play for a group somewhere to the right of Genghis Khan. Maybe Cephas (Simon Peter) was some kind of super loving machine, but not according to visionary Maria Valtorta: (180)
Peter's wife must have worked miracles to satisfy her husband, and she must have worked all day. Now, tired but happy, she is in her little corner listening to what her husband and the others are saying. She watches her Simon, who, as far as she is concerned, must be a great man, even if he is somewhat exacting, and when she hears him speak new words, where before he could only talk of boats, nets, fish and money, she begins to blink as if she were dazzled by a bright light.
Peter being “somewhat exacting” and working his wife hard would presumably have ordered or commanded her so. Paul had the option of doing the same should he marry, as did any Christian brother who was married, but this is not my point but that the radio preacher had a philosophical problem in trying to prove a negative, that something doesn't exist (in the Bible), namely that a husband isn't expected to lead his wife to the point of ordering or commanding her.
Our movie opens on the group's van having been driven off the road (“Shit! What did you do, Tiger?”) to stall out in a corn field. The whole group, of course, loved their van, but the driver Tiger (Callum Turner) had the obligation to drive the thing, not just fall asleep at the wheel, his love for the vehicle notwithstanding.
As long as the radio preacher is concerned about what's in the Bible, consider, (1Cor. 11:10) “For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.” The movie “Wings of Desire” covered that concept. In this movie the power on a woman's head was a stiletto sticking out of it. When the police arrive, there needs to be an accounting for it, not just a brush-off saying it was a lovers' tiff. Similarly the power on a married woman's head affects the angels' actions apart from protestations of love.
The punk band lacked decisive leadership in a tough situation leaving female band member Sam (Alia Shawkat) to her own devices. Watch what happens to her even though she's the one holding the gun.
The club's owner Darcy knew how to give orders and commands. At one point Pat (Anton Yelchin) figures to meet the skinhead devils on their own terms, so he shaves his head to look like one, (1Cor. 11:7) “For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.” He takes command (“Here's the plan”) of the remaining female Amber (Imogen Poots) whose matching war paint shows through her dangling locks. I think Amber will end up better than Sam, or at least stand a chance.
The dogs belonging to “the red laces” were trained to attack on command (“The bite command is Foss”) but after they got too worked up, they were given a break. The owners loved them so were not chauvinistic in their demands.
Production Values
This movie, “” (2015) was written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier. It stars Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, and Alia Shawkat. Patrick Stewart exudes a quiet menace that makes this picture so nerve-racking. The rest of the cast did fine as a wasted band confronting some overconfident skinhead types.
MPAA rated it R for strong brutal graphic violence, gory images, language and some drug content. Cinematographer Sean Porter makes scenic backwoods Oregon a place you wouldn't want to visit. The editing was professional. The band was cute when they played a cover of The Dead Kennedys' “Nazi Punks, F__k Off!” to taunt the bar crowd.
Review Conclusion w/ Christian Recommendation
This one will grab you and won't let go. It's a well balanced horror flick that uses plot more than cheap gimmicks to deliver the scares.
Movie Ratings
Action factor: Edge of your seat action-packed. Suitability For Children: Not Suitable for Children of Any Age. Special effects: Well done special effects. Video Occasion: Fit For a Friday Evening. Suspense: Don't watch this movie alone. Overall product rating: Five stars out of five.
Works Cited
Scripture is taken from the King James Version. Pub. 1611, rev. 1769. Software, Print.
Valtorta, Maria. Lesson to the Apostles in Peter's Kitchen and Announcement of the Baptist's Capture in: The Gospel as Revealed to Me. Vol. 2. Translated from Italian by Nicandro Picozzi, M.A., D.D. Revised by Patrick McLaughlin, M.A. This 2nd English Edition has now replaced the First English Edition, The Poem of the Man-God. WEB.
bibles.n7nz.org