Godspeed (2009)

50% of critics liked it
(10 reviews)
19% of users liked it
(248 ratings)

A man learns too well that one shouldn't promise more than he can actually deliver in this independent thriller. Charlie (Joseph McKelheer) lives in Alaska with his wife, Rebecca (Jessica Ward), and young son, James (Ben Loosli). Charlie makes a modest living as a preacher and faith healer, but he's… More A man learns too well that one shouldn't promise more than he can actually deliver in this independent thriller. Charlie (Joseph McKelheer) lives in Alaska with his wife, Rebecca (Jessica Ward), and young son, James (Ben Loosli). Charlie makes a modest living as a preacher and faith healer, but he's come to question his faith, and tries to dull the pain of doubt with alcohol and affairs with other women. Charlie's life is turned upside down when Rebecca and James are brutally murdered; six months later, he's living in isolation in a trailer in the wilderness, having turned his back on his old life and given up on religion. Charlie receives an unexpected visitor in Sarah (Courtney Halverson), a lovely young woman who tells him her father is severely ill and could use his help. Against his better judgment, Charlie agrees to join Sarah for the long trip back to her family's home, but when they arrive, her brothers, Luke (Cory Knauf) and Tim (Hallock Beals), make it clear they have some unpleasant business with Charlie. Directed by Robert Saitzyk, Godspeed received its world premiere at the 2009 CineVegas Film Festival, where it received a prize for "Exceptional Artistic Achievement." ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 38 min.
Directed By: Robert Saitzyk
Written By: Cory Knauf, Robert Saitzyk
Genres: Mystery & Suspense, Drama

In Theaters: Mar 26, 2010 Wide
On DVD: Apr 20, 2010
Studio: Film Harvest

Critic Reviews

Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times
Despite its fissures in tone and technique, Godspeed occasionally plays like a sturdy indie outpost of revenge cinema.
Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times
Opens tentatively but ends confidently with a climax that's bloody enough to jolt but not enough to sicken -- a trick that too many directors have yet to master.
Lou Lumenick, New York Post
The location -- Sarah Palin's beautiful old stomping ground of Wasilla, Alaska -- is the main attraction in Robert Saitzyk's talky and overwrought melodrama.
Aaron Hillis, Village Voice
Saitzyk's sappy pontifications on loss, redemption, and zealotry don't register as headily as they're meant to, and the spirituality invoked feels about as sincere as the Christian who only attends Christmas mass.
Norm Schrager, Filmcritic.com
All the theological themes and delicate cinematography in the world can't alter the fact that watching someone get theirs simply makes us feel better
Don R. Lewis, Film Threat
Intense, brutal, intriguing and expertly executed.
Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle
This tautly wound and even more tightly paced mini-epic of love, loss, and redemption deep in the heart of God's country (aka Alaska) is nothing if not awe-inspiring.
Avi Offer, NYC Movie Guru
Often contrived, stilted and awkwardly preachy albeit occasionally suspenseful and filled with haunting visuals.
Andrew Grant, Time Out New York
Earnest to a fault, this tale of vengeance and retribution strives for Faulknerian pathos, but never rises above amateur theatrics.
Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine
Suggests Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood but without the gallows humor or eye for regional detail.