Fantastic!

As Good As It Gets

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I shall give this movie a rating of 5, to be quite frank I am one of JW, some parts were actually funny and I could relate to the "cheers" part lol, anyway A lot of people are not seeing this from OUR point of view, lets get one thing straight, this girl was not an unbaptised publisher (when your not baptised but still go to meetings), this girl made a PROMISE to Jehovah that she will serve him!(at the beginning you see the girl being baptised) Another extremely important point the elders, I repeat the elders would NEVER "spy" on you or "suddenly" turn up at your door step that is NONSENSE!!! When I was going through a rough time when i was 13 yes the elders did come to see me but only to encourage and they were very caring about the whole situation. Now fast forward, when I stopped going to meeting for a while i didn't get any visits, I was engaging in sex, my mum probably knew but again there's nothing she could do, The elders only come to you if YOU APPROACH THEM!!! I wasn't "expelled" because I was not baptised, I didn't make a promise to Jehovah. AGAIN the elders WOULD NOT "expel" you if they have not spoken to you, what ******!!!! Yeah this is getting me even more upset. I've been in the world yeah I had some fun times but I had rough times, at the end of the day no one FORCES you to get baptised its your own choice, you cant make a promise to the grand creator and then suddenly decide "this isn't for me", see it from our point of view please. YOU PEOPLE WHO ARE LYING TO OUR OWN CHILDREN ABOUT A MAN COMING DOWN THE CHIMNEY AND GIVING THEM PRESENTS, AN EASTER BUNNY, TOOTH FAIRY??LOOOL at least we stick with our beliefs and don't lie to our children. I was never "brainwashed" when I was younger yes i was forced to go to meetings but its what my parents know what is best for me, as Im older now and still living with my parents I go to meeting because its what I want, YES I, AS IN ME want to do, and I believe it 100% I've been to other churches and they are damn well brainwashing, so don't come like JWs are brainwashing people I made my own choices thank u very much and yes it caused my family loads of stress my mother still loves me and talks to me, YOU are only DISFELLOWSHIPPED not "EXPELLED" if you are not sorry for what you did, get your facts right. The fact still remains she was not baptised..... How the elders are portrayed in this movies is ridiculous lol when they visit you they are friendly and not "daunting", im going to stop cuz ill only get more angry, on a last note I am happy worshiping Jehovah God, you can say that my parents were JWs yes but I KNOW its the truth, I have been to other churches and what Jehovahs Witnessess are preaching is the truth, we are loving people, if you want to make a movie about JWs then get it right, and we are ALLOWED TO WATCH TV AND PLAY COMPUTER GAMES THE ELDERS DO NOT TELL US WHAT WE CANT AND CANNOT DO!!!, obviously they put it in that movie to make us seem so boring and strict, I have LOADS of fun being a JW with my friends we drink, dance, listen to CHART music like Rihanna, Beyonce all of that we are free to listen to what we want its just up to our conscience......

Put simply, anyone who is not a Witness but who has Witnesses or ex- Witnesses in their lives should watch this movie. You will understand them better for it.It illustrates simply, without histrionics, the pressures facing a person in a religious group that punishes failure to comply with 'the rules' with expulsion (which can and does even extend to family members refusing to associate with you anymore) and where an individual's freedom of conscience is ignored.Imagine yourself faced with a choice; do what your religion and family expect, or lose them. And you do not lose just family; Jehovah's Witnesses typically have few if any real friends outside of the religion.I have been there and done it. It really is like starting over.To get more complex, some reviewers, especially Jehovah's Witnesses seeking to defend their faith, miss the point or are in error, or both:One reviewer expects it to show the Biblical justifications Jehovah's Witnesses use for their beliefs. Well, I believe an appropriate channel for that would be a film _they_ make. This film is a girl's story of how the religion she just happened to grow up in meant that by doing what many young people do, she loses her family, and that everyone she grew up with in the religion now thinks she will die. The reasons they might claim for doing and believing what many people would find morally reprehensible are irrelevant, as the same Bible can be interpreted in many different ways by other faiths.Only very few religions are so sure that their opinion about a Biblical passage is so accurate that anyone who disagrees should be kicked out. And these opinions change; for example, the definition of the word 'generation' (Armageddon was meant to come in the lives of those of the generation of 1914, but as this generation has died out, the definition has shifted so it looks like they were never wrong) and the now rescinded prohibition against organ transplants (it used to be considered cannibalism and that someone receiving a heart transplant would develop personality traits of the donor, but the doctrine changed.... no "sorry if your loved ones refused organ transplants and died, we were wrong" at any point).Another reviewer quibbles about an Elder having a beard. As has already been pointed out, in some countries this is OK. But before you quibbled, did you ever wonder what the hell does a man's facial hair (supposedly god-given) have to do with his suitability to act as an Elder? Or maybe this is another opinion, set at a time when men with beards were beatniks, hippies etc., and now presented as an unbreakable rule (except in countries where beards have been more traditional, where the rules are different, LOL), even though these opinions of grooming standards are archaic and non-Biblical?Yet another reviewer tries the 'poison the well strategy' by implying that you cannot listen to ex-believers as they will be bitter. Well, honestly, would you buy a car of someone who told you never to listen to anyone who had owned that car in the past but then got rid of it? Maybe they got rid of the car for a reason to do with the car! Maybe people stop being JWs because of something to do with the religion? Elders do follow up on people who have left (been there), especially if they are told that this person (who no longer even attends meetings) is breaking the rules.The Watchtower magazine has vacillated between some support of higher education and warning against it. The '90s and early 00's it was more acceptable. In the '70's and 80's it was anathema.And yes, some JWs are educated. But see the reaction if you openly tell other JWs you intend to research evolutionary biology thoroughly using textbooks etc., so that you can understand the beliefs that JWs have (no evolution of species, humans have only existed for less than 10,000 years) and be able to defend them better, or that you are going to read 'Crisis of Conscience' by expelled ex-governing body member Ray Franz, or you openly disagree with the meaning of certain scriptures. In most religions this is tolerated. But as shown by the expulsion of the lead character's elder brother, you can be kicked out for reading the wrong books and contradicting the elders!And most certainly, just as you don't see Legolas running round after a battle in Lord of the Rings, picking up arrows (otherwise, where does he get them all from), you don't see everything that must have shaped her desire to leave. Her brother left for reading the wrong books... maybe ones that show that they JWs have either directly stated or heavily implied certain dates for Armageddon and been (obviously) wrong. Maybe her discussions with her boyfriend's atheistic family? But these are not the point of the film. Or her mother, who 'has doubts' but is forced to maintain a facade or lose her family?The point of the film is that certain groups of believers have a very tight controlled set of beliefs, which just like any faith (Hebrews 11:1 "Faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not.") is based not on FACT, but opinion. These same believers have to comply with these set of opinions or be expelled, and when a fellow believer is expelled will exercise a choice, based on their OPINION, to maintain or sever ties with them. This opinion is presented as god's opinion, but this is false, even blasphemous if you really believe in god... all it is is just another opinion, but one valued so highly by those holding it that it comes before everything else. There is no real option to agree to disagree and maintain normal ties

Much of my family and friends are JW's and have no interest in seeing this film.Knowing their belief's I really understand their lack of interest in a film maybe about JW's made by non-JW's,it's a no brainer,stay away from it.The reviews only enforce the thought of avoidance.Good acting is good acting but using a movie drama for education on a religion doesn't make sense.In one of the Ben-Hur movies they try to pass it off as a Bible experience even though the Bible makes NO mention of a person named Ben-Hur.The makers of this film may of have thought the movies errors had less chance of upsetting JW's than another religion.Enjoy the acting but why formulate a religious opinion from a movie made by a non-member of that religion.

I was moved deeply nearly to tears watching this film on SBS 2 last night. The film deals with important issues in such a sincere and sensitive way. The film shared a great deal with my personal experience to choose between my faith and my now (ex) fiancé. An impossible decision that has brought a life time of pain and regrets. It is a terrible dilemma for a young person to face these issues. I am glad this important and wonderful film was made because I expect many people have had to go through this and it is heartbreaking, but helpful to see how others manage the situation. Always be true to yourself. We can find the Lord Yahweh anywhere, you don't have to be in a church. As long as you obey His commandments, we need His guidance and discernment when it is not always His will but Mans religion which is different. Good Luck to all young people to be strong and find happiness without control and brainwashing.