The film Steps Of Faith, by writer-director M. Legend Brown, features a large & talented cast: Charles Malik Whitfield (The Temptations), Chrystee Pharris (Passions, Scrubs), Ted Lange (The Love Boat), Tracey Ross (Passions), and Irma P. Hall (Soul Food, The Ladykillers). It's a great mix of Texas and national talent.
Steps Of Faith is a faith-based film that has a broad religious theme that I think would appeal to many fans of family fare. It's a Christian film that's not just for Christians although I think that's who will pick up on much of the humor the most (the comparisons of African American and Caucasian churches within the film are pretty brilliant). To a mainstream secular audience, though, Steps Of Faith is a romantic comedy that works for the entire family - in fact there is even some family drama included as part of the plot.
That plot involves Faith Houston (Pharris) who takes off to a small Texas town after she quits her job as a leap of faith. In desperation Houston takes a job as a farmhand at the 'Steps Of Faith' farm, a therapeutic outlet for kids and their families that employs hippotherapy to help special needs kids. It is a type of therapy that includes riding horses to improve motor skills & the well-being of children; it's a similar concept to the famous quote (I paraphrase) "There is nothing better for the inside of a man than the outside of a horse." Unfortunately, Houston has some problems with the farm - namely, she's not good with kids or animals. That's where a lot of the comedy comes in. She also has doubts about her own faith. There's the drama. However, Whitfield provides the romance and does so quite skillfully.
The story is multi-layered, the scenes are realistic since almost everything was shot on location, and even the music - including the music of the Southern church, sounds great. One woman that was at the same showing I was said she didn't realize how funny it would be. She also mentioned that she liked it since she got the message of the film but wasn't "beaten over the head," by didactic storytelling. If adults are looking for a "good, clean" movie yet one that could also be watched by kids Steps Of Faith would make an excellent choice.
