Persecuted

A TV evangelist (James Remar) is framed for murder when he refuses to endorse a piece of religion-oriented legislation sponsored by a shifty senator (Bruce Davison). Writer-director Daniel Lusko's attempt at a faith-based political thriller is absolutely and utterly botched. The plot makes no sense. Lusko is such a poor writer that he can't tell a clear story. (He apparently doesn't know it—he also wrote the film's synopsis on IMDb, and it doesn't match what happens on the screen.) Is there no person of faith who knows how to make a decent movie? It seems there used to be—remember Soul Surfer? This mess wastes some actors (Fred Dalton Thompson, Dean Stockwell), uses others who shouldn't work at all (naming no names) and generally makes God's Not Dead look like Citizen Kane.