‘Bad Counselors’ An Unfunny Christian Satire About Frat Boys Who Learn Nothing About Faith
(REVIEW) More and more faith-based films are following the “Elmer Gantry” plot.
Based on the 1927 book and remade into the Oscar-nominated 1960 film starring Burt Lancaster, “Elmer Gantry” follows a con artist who becomes a revival preacher and finds enormous success fooling gullible Christians.
While “Elmer Gantry” was controversial for its criticism of Christianity, these modern films have figured out that the formula is an easy one to adopt to affirm Christianity: An immoral secular man is forced to pretend to be a Christian to get out of trouble. This becomes a story where the wayward individual is changed by the people he’s trying to fool. The format allows Christians to safely make fun of themselves while still actually following the standard Christian plot of the sinner who turns his life around by accepting Christ.
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“Bad Counselors” is the latest faith-based film to adopt this formula. Unfortunately, while the film is decently made, it never really moves beyond ticking boxes of tropes to create characters or develop themes that make it resonate.
After one wild night ends in handcuffs and a campus police escort, two best friends named Grayson and Tyler are slapped with 120 hours of community service due in two weeks, or they’re expelled. Their genius plan? Pose as counselors at a local Christian youth camp, where every sing-along, campfire devotional and trust fall counts toward the clock.
Just one problem (OK, three): they don’t like kids, they hate camping and they have barely set foot in a church. Now they’ll have to learn the lingo, fake the faith and hide their flask all while dodging suspicious pastors, prankster campers and the cutest female counselors they’ve ever seen.
The acting and comedic timing are solid. The formula beats all hit their marks. And there are some solid observations they make ripe for the kind of satire the “Elmer Gantry” plot excelled in. The joke where Grayson and Tyler walk into a church service thinking it’s a nightclub is a great gentle jab at how modern Evangelical worship resembles a rock concert. Grayson and Tyler dress up in suits to go to church to “blend in” and then are completely out of place because they are ignorant of the different Christian subcultures.
Likewise, there are some solid messages embedded in the film. When Grayson and Tyler start to open up with their new Christian friends, many of the confessions back and forth are deeply heartfelt. There are even some thoughtful hints at the ways that Christian culture encourages men to be “nice guys” rather than good men.
But the film never finds its own identity or leans hard enough into any of its ideas to create any real impression. Its jokes are mostly not funny enough for it to work as a pure comedy. Its satire is too surface-level and all over the place to resonate as commentary. The characters and themes are not developed enough to land as a character study or message drama. The “cringe” nature of Christian adults trying to be “cool” to kids in a church environment elicits deadpan confusion from the leads but never more than that.
Grayson’s romance with Jenna just hits the beats of a generic romance plot, with no clear reason why the supposedly slick Grayson is coming off so clumsy. And it’s unclear why Tyler is running away from a pretty girl who’s throwing herself at him besides the easy “laughs” that accompany that.
If Grayson’s ineptitude at wooing a Christian girl was more clearly based on him not understanding the cultural differences, and Tyler’s based on how the girl is clearly “marriage crazy” rather than “relationship crazy”, these moments would have felt more character- and theme-forward. (And the latter would have set up the movie’s final joke better).
The characters in general are all over the place. Grayson is at once so slick that he can fool a law firm into hiring him, but such a bad con artist. Jenna says she’s never sure if her beliefs are her beliefs or just what her father believes. Yet this is never showcased or brought up before or after this confession.
The film also feels rather archaic given the realities of modern Christian and secular cultural differences and conversations. “Bad Counselors” follows the format of secular culture being male-centric with male-coded vices and rampant hedonism and amorality, with women representing the wholesome Christian world that the men adapt themselves to. But the modern world has flipped this on its head, with the secular world being increasingly demographically female and highly concerned with morality. This is just one more thing that makes the film not resonate as satire or commentary.
The result is essentially inoffensive but forgettable viewing. That’s unfortunate, because there’s plenty within the modern world of American Christianity that’s worthy of both satire and affirmation. And of the formulas that the faith-based industry is disposed to, the “Elmer Gantry” plot is the most capable of wrestling with them.
If “Bad Counselors” had focused on those elements, the film might have been one of the better entries in the faith-based genre.
Joseph Holmes is an award-nominated filmmaker and culture critic living in New York. He is co-host of the podcast “The Overthinkers” and its companion website theoverthinkersjournal.world, where he discusses art, culture and faith with his fellow overthinkers. His other work and contact info can be found at josephholmesstudios.com.