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On the Screen: Intimate and refreshingly honest, ‘Unsung Hero’ tells the remarkable story of the Smallbone family

DAVID ADAMS finds ‘Unsung Hero’ a well-told portray of one’s family’s journey in God…

Unsung Hero (AU – PG /UK – PG/US – PG)

In a word: Intimate


The Smallbones arrive in the US. PICTURE: Courtesy of Unsung Hero.

A well-balanced biopic (in parts autobiopic), Unsung Hero tells the story of the Australian Smallbone family – a name which has made a big impact in the Christian music scene worldwide through acts like for KING + COUNTRY and Rebecca St James – and is a close-up portrayal of tumultuous few years which changed all their lives.

“This is the intimate portrait of one family’s struggles and the hope they found in God and those He placed around them. It’s a fairly blunt portrayal of the family’s in parts, refreshingly so.”

The story kicks off in Sydney where David Smallbone (played by his son, Joel Smallbone) is a Christian music promoter on the verge of making it big. The family of eight – watched over by wife Helen (Daisy Betts) – live in a big house complete with pool with the children leading something of an idyllic life.

But things sour when the Australian economy enters the “recession we had to have” in the early Nineties and the Smallbones lose everthing. David and Helen decide to take the family to Nashville in the US where David is hoping to promote a tour with Christian music heavyweight Carman.

But on arrival things don’t go to plan and the deal David had expected doesn’t come about, leaving the family without an income and living day-to-day in a house without any furniture.



At rock bottom, the family, led by Helen, press into prayer and soon start to see answers to prayers (as well as starting a family lawn-mowing and cleaning business). But the blows keep coming (along with a new baby, number seven) and David finds himself struggling with his pride (at one point he’s cleaning the toilet of an artist he once promoted) as he’s forced to rely on the help of God and others and remember what the most important things in his life are.

Joel Smallbone and Daisy Betts both put in impressive performances while Kirrilee Berger, who plays Joel’s older sister Rebecca (better known to millions around the world as Rebecca St James), is also strong. There are plenty of cameos from the real Smallbone family – including St James who plays a flight attendant – and other recognisable faces include Candace Cameron Bure as family friend Kay Albright and Terry O’Quinn as David’s dad, James.


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This is the intimate portrait of one family’s struggles and the hope they found in God and those He placed around them. It’s a fairly blunt portrayal of the family’s struggles in parts, refreshingly so, and doesn’t portray some in the Christian music industry in a particularly good light – “it’s just business”, something we can only hope has changed over the years.

In Unsung Hero, Joel Smallbone, who co-directed the film with Richard L Ramsey (and was also a co-writer), has created a love letter of sorts to his family about their shared story. The result is a well-put together and uplifting film.

 

This article was updated.

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