If you’re a Christian, you’re pretty much happy when any one is courageous enough to mention Jesus’s name anywhere these days, but especially in a movie. Radio Personality Russ Parr is more than just a voice on the radio. As screenwriter and director of “Hear No Evil,” he’s proven he’s more than able to talk about hot and controversial topics, he’s willing to create some, too.
“Hear No Evil” is the faith-based story of a 15-year-old hearing-impaired girl who is not struck blind or dumb or deaf. In what, at first brush, would appear to be an unfortunate accident, Shelby Carson played by newcomer Jahnee Wallace, in a white-hot flash, gains the ability to hear.
With the silence dispelled, Shelby hears the sound of her mother’s voice, Kate, played by Jill Marie Jones, and the sound of her father’s voice, Samuel (Richard T. Jones). But when she hears from her other Father, the wisdom gained from God—as the word of truth will do—separates the wheat from the tares, the believers from the non-believers.
Shelby, once cocooned in the safety of silence, finds herself at the center of overwhelming attention when the media and town learns of her gift. As expected, every cross-carrying Solomon, every scripture-quoting character, and Bible-thumping lunatics alike descend on the family’s lawn.
The story is a touching portrayal of how a gift from God can be multifaceted, two-sided like a coin. One side is shiny, bringing amazement and wonder. Oh, but that other side can be oh so green and rusty. The other side reveals the heavy burden of knowing painful secrets about people preferred not shared and the awesome responsibility of knowing people’s problems, health or otherwise, and the need to fix them. Then, in a bitter flip of the coin, there is also the shock and disappointment of facing those who refuse to believe, especially those especially close to you.
Russ Parr, Radio Personality, Writer, Director, and Christian.
Russ Parr may have literally pulled this film from the sky. In an interview with The Christian Post, Parr recalled a time when his daughter became seriously ill a couple of years ago, which made him fear for her life. While he had feelings of unworthiness about asking for help when there are others worse off, since the “Russ Parr Morning Show” is syndicated in 45 cities, for the love of his ailing daughter, he decided to use it as a platform to call for prayer. When his daughter showed signs of improvement the following day, his faith was renewed. Another positive consequence of the ordeal, he maintains, is that God blessed him to share the spiritual thriller, “Hear No Evil.”
“This movie is what I call a spiritual thriller. I wrote it and I wanted to make a statement about people that have a disability, that are different from us but their world is normal,” Parr said. “They don’t want pity. But as I started writing I said, ‘I really need to show the gift this young lady received.’”
“Hear No Evil” cast at the American Black Film Festival held June 19-22, 2014 in New York City, New York
Jackie Long, perhaps best remembered from the movie ATL, was not just eye candy as the loafer-turned-hero of the TV One original movie, but an engaging scene-stealer. The one glaring criticism of “Hear No Evil” is the reverse racism that sometimes occurs in “black movies” where whites are relegated to the very buffoons and deviants that cause Blacks to cringe when they see themselves depicted in this lousy and unflattering way. However, the emotional full-circle ending, while equally predictable, was a tearjerker and quite satisfying.
If you missed “Hear No Evil,” watch for rebroadcasts of the spiritual thriller on TV One. Then, be sure to tell a sistah what you think!
