WARNING: The first 12 minutes of this movie will make you cry.
You’ll cry again later.
In between, you will smile, tap your feet, dance in your seat and maybe even sing along. You’re not going to be able to help it. And that’s a good thing.
I love a good music movie–not a musical, necessarily, but a movie about music. I’ve watched The Jazz Singer, La Bamba, Dead Man’s Curve, and Walk the Line time after time after time. Most of those were based on the lives of real performing artists. The Identical is fiction, but it feels like it could be a biography. It was my privilege to preview this movie last week.
A little bit about the story: Identical twins are born to a poverty-stricken couple in Depression-era Alabama. The babies’ father strikes a deal with a traveling preacher whose wife is unable to have children in the hopes that one of his sons will have a chance at a good life. The arrangement is to be kept secret until the babies’ birth parents have both passed away.
The story is told from the point of view of Ryan, the adopted son, and the same actor plays the role of both twins. As a young adult, the musically-talented Ryan is studying for the ministry to please his father and is constantly mistaken for an up-and-coming young rock-and-roll singer. (You can guess who he is!)
For most of the film, Ryan struggles to find a balance between the expectations of his 
parents and his own desire to develop and use the musical abilities with which he was gifted.
In addition to exploring the visceral connection between identical twins, this movie carries an important message about discerning what God is calling each of us to do. The themes of reconciliation and forgiveness are also highlighted in this story.
The Identical opens Friday, September 5, and is rated PG (for “thematic material” and smoking.) I definitely consider this movie to be family-friendly. Run time is 107 minutes, and I’d have been OK with it being even longer if it would have meant an extra song or two!
Find out more about The Identical at the movie’s Facebook page. There’s even a “music” tab where you can listen to clips of the film’s soundtrack. (That’s an album I’m definitely going to be purchasing!)
See the movie–and bring your family, especially if you have teenagers.