Old Fashioned

Swartzwelder, going for “thoughtful,” instead achieves “glacial.” A romance wants to sweep viewers up, not bog them down. Still, Old Fashioned is both unusual and intelligent enough that, despite it not being entirely MY cup of tea, I’m hoping that it’ll succeed at doing at least a little more than addressing the converted.

The writer-director, perhaps for reasons of economy (surely not vanity) cast himself as the romantic lead. And Rik Swartzwelder, competent behind the camera, is an utter stiff on screen.

Old Fashioned — a deathly dull small-town drama with the marketing smarts to bill itself as the conservative Evangelical answer to "Fifty Shades Of Grey" — is all about the importance of sexual chastity, which is another way of saying that it’s all about sex.

The line between priggishness and creepiness is repeatedly smudged by multihyphenate Rik Swartzwelder in Old Fashioned, a faith-based drama that looks as lovely as an expensive greeting card, but moves as slowly as a somnolent turtle.

Old Fashioned fails in more banal ways, too. It’s a flatly predictable sort of romance; numerous leaves are turned over, both figuratively and literally. The film’s predilection for screamingly obvious symbols gets old fast.

As written, directed and played by Swartzwelder, Clay is such a self-absorbed, judgmental jerk that anyone who would willingly subject themselves to his endless pontificating could rival Anastasia Steele in the masochism department.

Any masochistic joy that can be derived from watching the film owes to seeing it take its bullheaded conceit to its logical, artless extreme.

Loved this movie! No cussing at all. Great story. Great for couples and people dating. Funny and some crying bring some tissues just incase. I am buying this Movie when it comes out. You get your moneys worth for sure. Modern and old fashioned

It's not very often that we find a story that is full of charm and romance, while still remaining passionately chaste. It's a rather Old Fashioned notion to expect that from a film in this day and age but Rik Swartzwelder managed it quite confidently. The ideals and beliefs in this film may not be for everyone, in fact, many would choose to scoff it off. But I found OF to be raw and real enough to make us pause and ponder on its possibilities. The pace of the movie is a quiet stroll, with just the right measure of melodies and sceneries to accompany us. The landscape is breathtaking and cinematography, beautifully captured! There were brief instances where a scene or two seemed a tad contrived but not enough to impose on the overall flow of the film. The main characters are both credible and charming together. They easily convince you to invest in them and leave you curious about what their future holds. To me, that in itself says the movie accomplished its purpose. it made me take a slice of the story and characters with me and left me feeling hopeful that it is possible to hold out for these Old Fashioned ideas. A delightful film!

My wife and I just saw this movie for the first time, and LOVED it! The agony of the young man trying to explain his new found faith without sounding preachy, the wit and humor of Aunt Zella, the exposure of the fractured man persona in today's culture, and the struggle to avoid embracing the legalism so prevalent in many conservative churches and relationships today -- all of these issues rolled into one storyline show how truly clever and rich is this commendable screenplay. Bravo! This is a story about love, and forgiveness. There are some laugh-out-loud moments, some truly “what in the world is going happen next!?!” plot turns, and some touching scenes that will honestly have you reaching for the Kleenix. Highly recommended. However, if you're unwilling to slow down, and take a moment to consider and roll around in your brain some of the truly vital societal issues being presented in this movie, don’t bother watching this. You haven’t been hurt enough to understand what this movie is talking about.

It's the Christian answer to 50 Shades of Grey, and it somehow manages to be even more egregious in its portrayal of what constitutes a healthy relationship. The protagonist is a former serial date rapist who repeatedly shows himself to be mentally unstable. I literally cannot imagine a less romantic premise.