Today’s Prayer Focus
MOVIE REVIEW

Did You Hear About the Morgans?

also known as “Buffalo Faith,” “Che fine hanno fatto i Morgan?,” “Haben Sie schon von den Morgans gehört?”
MPA Rating: PG-13-Rating (MPA) for some sexual references and momentary violence.

Reviewed by: Laura Busch
CONTRIBUTOR

Moral Rating: Better than Average
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience: Adults, Teens
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Drama
Length: 1 hr. 43 min.
Year of Release: 2009
USA Release: December 18, 2009 (wide—2,700+ theaters)
DVD: March 16, 2010
Copyright, Columbia Picturesclick photos to ENLARGE Copyright, Columbia Pictures Copyright, Columbia Pictures Copyright, Columbia Pictures Copyright, Columbia Pictures Copyright, Columbia Pictures Copyright, Columbia Pictures Copyright, Columbia Pictures Copyright, Columbia Pictures Copyright, Columbia Pictures
Relevant Issues
Copyright, Columbia Pictures

Adoption in the Bible

Murder


Marriage

Adultery

Is formalized marriage becoming obsolete? Answer
Many people are convinced that traditional marriages don’t work and that this practice should be abandoned. What does the Bible say about marriage?

Divorce in the Bible

DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE—Under what conditions may Christians divorce and remarry? Answer

Featuring Sarah Jessica Parker, Hugh Grant, Mary Steenburgen, Sam Elliott, Elisabeth Moss, Kim Shaw, Michael Kelly, Seth Gilliam, Mario D'Leon, Audra Blaser, David Call, Beth Fowler, Chad Brummett, Peter Conboy, Hristo Hristov, Vincenzo Amato, Henry Herman, Rob Yang, Jesse Liebman, Gracie Lawrence, Steven Boyer, Chad DeGroot, Elwood L. Hoyt, Robert Feeley, See all »
Director Marc Lawrence
Producer Columbia Pictures, Relativity Media, Castle Rock Entertainment, Banter, Relativity Media, Liz Glotzer, Anthony Katagas, Ryan Kavanaugh, Martin Shafer, Melissa Wells, Sara Woodhatch
Distributor Distributor: Columbia Pictures. Trademark logo.Columbia Pictures, a division of Sony Pictures

“We’re not in Manhattan anymore.”

“Did You Hear about the Morgans” provides a breath of fresh air to the often shallow and tasteless films that are so typical of the romantic comedy genre. Married couple, Paul and Meryl Morgan (Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker) are two successful Manhattan business people, who are estranged due to Paul’s infidelity. In an attempt to salvage their relationship, Paul takes Meryl out to dinner to discuss their problems but much to their surprise their evening ends more dramatically than they could ever have imagined, as they become the witnesses of a brutal murder. Paul and Meryl soon become the murderer’s number one targets and are forced to enter the witness protection program, which sends them packing for the small, rural town of Ray, Wyoming, where they are placed under the care of Sheriff Wheeler (Sam Elliot) and his wife, Deputy Wheeler (Mary Steenburgen). As Paul and Meryl are thrown together and forced to rough it in the small town of Ray, they begin to come to terms with their marital problems as they rediscover their love for one another.

Positive Elements

Despite “Did You Hear about the Morgans” lack of critical success, there are many lessons in this film, which align themselves with a Christian worldview of marriage. We see Meryl and Paul learn the importance that open and honest communication plays in a healthy marriage. Unlike most Hollywood films, which reinforce the world’s negative view of this sacred institution, we see Paul and Meryl work through their problems, as they rediscover their love for one another, and ultimately choose not to resort to divorce. Important truths about communication, honesty, trust, and forgiveness in marriage are presented in a humorous manner and are enjoyable to watch. Paul and Meryl share their feelings with one another, regarding their sadness over their infertility and adoption and family are portrayed in a positive light.

The importance of good role models in marriage is also exemplified. Sheriff Wheeler and his wife Deputy Wheeler serve as an example of a happily married couple, who are committed to each other. The Wheelers offer the Morgans sound advise about communication and trust that must exist between husbands and wives. In one scene, Deputy Wheeler explains to Paul that marriage is hard-work and she and her husband almost called it quits several times, but they persevered and stayed by their partners’ side through the good and bad times, and she encourages the Morgans to do the same.

Objectionable Content

While “Did You Hear about the Morgans” commitment to upholding the institution of marriage should be lauded, especially in a mainstream film, it is not without some objectionable content. The profanities in this film are relatively few, however the words, sh** and bull**** are each used roughly one time, and the Lord’s name is profaned several times during the film. Paul and Meryl exchange several kisses throughout the film. In another scene Paul carries Meryl into the bedroom, he accidentally drops her and jokes, “that was foreplay.” They close the door (sex is implied) but nothing more is shown after the bedroom door is closed. Paul and Meryl’s discussion of their infertility and the stress and sadness associated with it may be a little too mature for younger audiences. Paul explains to Meryl that “having sex on a schedule” and other fertility treatments put a strain on their marriage and tore them apart.

There is a moderate amount of violence throughout the film, but much of it is comedic, including Paul accidentally spraying bear repellent into his eyes and other forms of similar comedic violence are present. Some viewers may find the image of a man with a knife in his back falling from a balcony disturbing, but this scene is brief and bloodless. In several scenes involving the murderer, people can be seen shooting at each other, but all of these scenes are virtually bloodless.

Summary

In the modern media, where we so often see marriage portrayed as an oppressive and passé institution, it was refreshing to watch a humorous and entertaining film that respected and revered marriage. “Did You Hear about the Morgans” was a lighthearted and enjoyable film and is one of the cleaner choices for teens and adults in theaters this Christmas season.

Violence: Heavy / Profanity: Moderate / Sex/Nudity: Moderate

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.


Viewer CommentsSend your comments
Positive
Positive—What a treat this light hearted romantic comedy was! Don’t know why I haven’t heard more about it. Good, clean entertaining movie. I strongly encourage you to see it, let’s put our money where our mouth is and support movies like this!
My Ratings: Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 4
Kimberly, age 40+ (USA)
Positive—This movie was a pleasant surprise with the message it gives in regards to marriage and priorities. “Did You Hear About the Morgans?” shows that being successful in a marriage requires both partners to be honest, patient, loving, and above all—forgiving. Two things I personally appreciated in this film are:

1) Marriage is not about 50/50 compromises, but instead is about giving all that you can every day.

2) The time that was given to the topic of adoption…very true-to-life that we don’t see much in films today.

Obviously, this movie being a romantic comedy, I would not recommend taking the family to see this. There are some brief moments of violence and some dialogue that could have been left out…but thankfully this movie is clean (any references to sex are implied through dialogue, but nothing is shown on screen) I went to see this movie a second time, and this time I brought along my mother. She really enjoyed it too!
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 3½
Cara, age 23 (USA)
Positive—It’s really a pretty decent movie—certainly better than what the critics would have you believe. I suspect they downgraded it because there was a marriage that was actually saved. It was funny and lighthearted—not depressingly deep and shocking. My wife and I went on a double date with another couple. Both of us have had some struggles in our marriage. We all thought this movie was funny, entertaining, real, and very positive. Please go see this move so that we can support movies with a positive message.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 3½
Darren, age 38 (USA)
Positive—I really liked this film. It reminded me of the movie “Fireproof” with a more secular slant (she is agnostic). As others have said, it depicts a failed marriage recovered, including forgiveness and ultimately joy for the two of them. Hugh Grant has many funny comments and Sarah Jessica Parker is winsome (although the official critics seriously disagree with me—not that I care). With all of the difficulties marriages are having these days, this move (and Fireproof) are needed and, have the actual potential to do good. What a surprise that this has come from Hollywood, but I’m grateful that it did. If your marriage has infidelity issues, the first portion may make you squirm, but stay with it, and in the end, you will see what forgiveness and repentance can produce.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Excellent! / Moviemaking quality: 4
J, age 54 (USA)
Positive—I gave heed to your review and saw this movie, and it is just as the reviewer wrote—a refreshingly moral approach to the subject of marriage. The action dragged just a little bit, but otherwise the story was sweet and quite funny and I am glad I saw the movie. It has received bad reviews maybe because the direction of the scenes could have been better, but mostly because, I believe, it presented better than average morals and in the world of secular reviews, Godly values don’t matter any more.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 3½
Halyna Barannik, age 63 (Vanuatu)
Positive—My husband and I saw this movie and thought it was adorable. It was funny, and I liked watching the New Yorkers have to live in the country. It has some important marriage issues, but is also funny. We liked it better then expected.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 5
Samantha Taylor, age 35 (USA)
Positive—I was very pleased with this film. It is predictable, but still entertaining. I was surprised this film was rated PG-13, I think it should have been rated PG, based on other PG and PG-13 films I’ve seen that were much more extreme in violence, language and sensuality. …this is a good film for Christians who want minimal offenses. …There is no sex or even too revealing dress shown in the film. Once she has a shirt on that you can sort of see the outline of a bra, but after that she’s pretty much in country shirts and nightgowns. Also, I don’t mind the implied sex since they are a married couple. They both confess their infidelity and believe me, that sin is not exclusive to the unbelieving world, and they work through their marriage issues. The wife also struggles to take her husband back because she wants to love with a true heart, no just half-hearted love—and that’s what G-d wants from us too. The movie is absolutely pro-marriage, pro-adoption, pro-family. They take a crack at Sarah Palin and the main couple (Sarah and Hugh) are portrayed as typical New York liberals, but they learn the best lessons from the “G-d-fearing Americans” out West.

A few annoying things, Sarah J. Parker is constantly fussing w/ her hair—it’s a really bad style with the bangs in her eyes the whole movie (shame on the hair stylist for this movie), and Hugh Grant looks like he as a stiff neck almost the entire movie, he doesn’t really turn his head, he turns his whole body. The movie is a little 'cheese ball-like' at the end, but it’s a happy ending. Don’t we need more of those. Anyway enjoy.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 3½
gwoeis, age 47 (USA)
Neutral

none

Negative
Negative—I had read the positive reviews on Christian Spotlight and thought I had found a good movie. Even though I rented this movie at Redbox for a dollar it was a waste of a dollar. If you like movies that discuss sexual immorality and multiple sexual partners, then this is the movie for you. If you enjoy watching an actress with so much botox in her face she is unable to make facial expressions, get this movie. Best of all if you like movies that are totally predictable and depressing, then you have found yourself a winner. If you have to choose between picking lint off a sweater or watching this moving, stick with picking lint. I usually enjoy Hugh Grant but I have seen him play this same role in other movies. The movie is unbelievable, predictable, and depressing. Not to spoil it, but, in the end, the are the same self-centered, materialistic, hedonistic people they were at the beginning of the movie. This movie was nothing like “Fireproof.” I have to keep checking to make sure that I watched the right movie and not some knock off of the one so positively reviewed on this site. I am only thankful I didn’t pay to see this in the theatre. But I would still like my dollar back.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 2
Mari, age 40 (USA)
Comments from young people

none

Comments from non-viewers
In my mind, I cannot differentiate the actress Sarah Jessica Parker in a decent movie like this when she has corrupted the morals of America with the “Sex in the City” TV series and the movies. I wouldn’t see this movie if anyone paid me to see it.
Rick Manz, age 58 (USA)