All About Steve

“All About Steve” is an uneven feel-good bit of romantic comedy that tries hard to tickle your funny bone while delivering a profound message at the end. The running gag through the entire movie is the red boots that smart, pretty and a little ditsy crossword puzzle constructor Mary Horowitz (Sandra Bullock) wears, it may seem, even to bed. Although never said, they are the equivalent of her ‘lucky penny’ and also the banner under which most of her zany problems occur.

After meeting and becoming completely infatuated with a cute guy named Steve (Bradley Cooper) on a blind date, Mary is totally convinced that their chemistry is undeniable. Her complete fixation with Steve surfaces in her work at a local newspaper and causes her to lose her job. This and other seemingly random episodes—that to Mary are like pieces to a giant life cross word—only feeds her theory that she has met her soul mate, and convinces her that she must do anything and go anywhere to be with Steve.

Steve is a news cameraman who is traversing the country covering breaking news stories with handsome self-absorbed news anchorman and best friend Hartman Hughs (Thomas Haden Church), and nervous yes-man Angus (Ken Jeong). Hartman has a fine time always torturing Steve with good natured gabs every chance he gets, so when Mary shows up trailing Steve at every venue, Hartman can’t resist firing the flames of love.

Mary is a woman on a mission to convince Steve it’s their destiny to be eternally united, while Steve on the other hand feels he’s being stalked by the overzealous Mary. Hartman takes total gleeful advantage of the situation and encourages the love-struck Mary at every turn, while Steve battles unsuccessfully to ward them both off while trying to do his job.

This formula flick has it’s belly laugh moments and ends as most usually do, placing Mary in the middle of the news story of the year, making those people she has met along her journey come together, and, at the same time, she learns valuable life lessons about friendships, her unique path in life, and what true love really is.

This being said, I have to say this is not a family movie, and Christian parents must be warned not to let the rating fool you. “All About Steve” is rated PG-13 for sexual content including innuendos, but it is much more adult than that with plenty of swear words and references to male/female body parts. The beginning scenes of the film has the character of Mary literally jump on the Steve character and seduce him in the backseat of his truck on their first and only “date” without a word or even knowing him at all. Although meant to be funny, the humor is lost on anyone with a solid Christian moral base. Allowing your pre-teen or teens to view this, along with the rest of the adult sexual situations sprinkled liberally through out the whole movie, would take twice as long as the entire length of the film to filter through, discuss and teach your kids that this is not what God intended love, dating relationships and sex between a man and a woman to be.

I have a list an arm’s length of references to homosexuality, being pimped out for sex, a very direct description of a sex change, making it funny for a baby to be born with a third leg, rape as a joke, penis jokes, breast jokes, fornication before marriage, and taking the Lord’s name in vain. Add that to all the profanity, and you have a great idea for a movie, bogged down with so much un-Christian, un-family friendly fare that any concerned Christian parent is forced to say no to viewing it.

God is mentioned twice in references such as: “Ask and ye shall receive” and “Let there be light,” but be warned these references are in the context of comedic scenes. “All About Steve” was fun to watch, but made me feel uncomfortable many times, a shame too, because the acting is great and the premise is a good one. To learn you must care for others no matter who or what they represent, understand people and have a heart for those who may have disabilities. To know that it is more important to get to know a person on the inside, fall in love and marry them, before you commit your body to them. To give of yourself for others without thinking a selfish thought. To bring joy to those you love and care about. And, of course, never to judge a person by the way they look on the outside. These are all qualities found within “All About Steve,” but unfortunately, the viewer must be adult enough to see them, and know Scripture well enough to discern them.

In the end, this light comedy isn’t meant to be deep or thought provoking, but it does send the message that we can use our natural human virtues to make life right, which is never going to work in real life. It is a disappointment to see people depending on some cosmic inner power that God never gave them. We must connect with the Life of Jesus Christ in order to get life right. Jesus, and He alone, is the true example of the virtues Mary was looking for. His life can never be described in terms of our own natural virtues, not the virtues of Adam but of Jesus Christ only.

No natural love or natural purity can ever measure up to what Jesus’ example demands. However, be assured, that as we bring every part of our bodily life into harmony with The Living Word which God Himself has given us through His Spirit, He then will exhibit in us the true virtues that are characteristic of our Lord Jesus. In the end, Mary didn’t find it on her own. For this character to have been truly happy, she would have had to find her core virtues are a source from God alone.

Every true virtue we possess Is His Alone.

Violence: None / Profanity: Moderate / Sex/Nudity: Moderate

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

• Positive
• Negative
• Young people
• Critics
• Non-viewer comments