“Sound of Freedom” ( film)

***** Most of you know that film is not my choice when it comes to entertainment. Yes, I do go to movies on a fairly regular basis, but not nearly as often as my friend Barry and his wife Fern do. In fact, I think they see as many films per year as I do theater productions, which is an average of 4 per week ( around 200 per year). Recently Barry informed me that they had seen a film called “Sound of Freedom”, an American action film that  got its start back in 2015 and took all these years to get to the big screen. It was released in July ( on Independence Day) and has become a “sleeper hit”. It is not playing everywhere and in fact, can be hard to find.

The story is based on real-life situations and there will be some moments where you will feel uncomfortable as you watch what happens when traffickers steal children from their families and make them slaves to their needs or to those who buy them. It is the story of Tim Ballard ( played to perfection by Jim Caviezel) who ran Operation Underground Railroad, an anti-sex trafficking ring.

The movie starts off with a light tone. A young lady comes to the home of Robert, a father of two little ones. She is a former beauty queen ( adding to her credibility) and offers to sign up these two heavenly youngsters for child modeling. They are dropped off by their dad with lots of other children and told that no “stage parents” can be on the premises, so come back at 7 p.m.  When he comes back, he finds that the entire plan was a ruse and his children are gone.

We then meet Ballard and watch as he does all that he can, and more , to find these kids. He does find the son, Miguel , and although his bosses tell him it is time to move on, being a father himself, he decides to continue the search for Rocio. We watch him do his thing in order to save as many of these children as he can What they do is creative and exciting and while at times it appeared that the tasks they chose were impossible, this crew never gave up and was able to save over 50 of these children. I can tell you that this film has many tissue moments ( three tissues for me during and two for the happy ending).

When the film is over, they flash a two minute warning on the screen. A special announcement is made by Caviezel, explaining the problems and how widespread this problem is. They also explain how you can help. One of the ways is to “buy a ticket for the movie” and “play it forward”. Yes, give the ticket to someone who might not be able to afford to attend. This is a movie that MUST be seen. You can also donate to www.ourrescue.org

Today was a day of rest, and one that celebrates the right to have a day off and be with family. These children do not have that- they are taken away from their homes and family and in reality the lives of love and enjoyment they deserve. Help them, by making donations, seeing the film and or spreading the word. The more we get to know, the more we can get help for those who are in need!

DO NOT MISS THIS ONE!