I Still Believe is a 2020 romance biopic revolving around Jeremy Camp’s emotional relationship with his first wife Melissa.
It’s always important to praise most filmmakers for having the ambition to direct features based on true stories. It’s quite difficult to tell someone’s life on the big screen, and they have to make sure they do it justice, especially when you make a movie that revolves around the talented and inspiring singer known as Jeremy Camp. Recognized to be one of the most influential Christian musical artists, he has experienced quite an emotional and painful past, which has eventually motivated him to write a song called I Still Believe. The Erwin Brothers have decided to direct a film based on Camp’s life with the same title as his inspiring single after completing their previous Christian biopic titled I Can Only Imagine.
It stars KJ Apa as Jeremy Camp, and it mostly focuses on his touching romance with his first wife Melissa (Britt Robertson), while also showcasing his passion for writing and singing during his college years. It does sound like a premise that you have seen plenty of times before in other biopics and/or romance dramas, but it actually has an important message that will undeniably resonate with so many people out there.
Apa delivers a marvellous performance, which helps the audience connect with him on a personal level. It’s quite compelling to see the emotional and passionate side of Jeremy Camp, which is certainly the film’s biggest strength. Robertson is also fantastic, and she has great chemistry with Apa. Whenever they’re on screen together, it’s quite heartwarming. However, there’s also a love triangle that happens in the beginning, but it adds nothing to the story. Not everything that has happened in Camp’s past needs to be in the movie, so it makes you wonder why that’s even in there in the first place.
As a whole, I Still Believe is a romance drama. Unfortunately, not everything works in regards to storytelling. The first half feels like a generic teen romance flick, while the second half is actually really intriguing and emotional. The narrative is incredibly formulaic and cliched during the beginning, and it makes you roll your eyes out sometimes. After a rocky start, it actually gets a lot better as the movie goes on. For a biopic that focuses on a singer, the biggest bummer is that we don’t really get to see a lot of Camp’s creative process as a musician, because it wishes to concentrate more on his relationship with Melissa, which is obviously the main aspect of the story.
I Still Believe doesn’t break any new ground in terms of its generic storytelling, especially during the first half. However, the acting performances from its two lead roles most certainly carry the film, which does bring a lot of emotions for the audience to care deeply about their relationship. Even if the beginning of the movie heavily compromises the narrative, it’s still a touching biopic that revolves around the important themes of hope and love, and that’s all you can ask for.