ReelBob: ‘Steps’ ★★½

A faith-based movie that relies more on character motivation and keeps religion and God as a backdrop.

Faith-based films are most palatable when they rely on characters finding their own paths without much pushing or emphasizing religion or God.

“Steps” is one such movie. The film’s arc follows Brian (Rob Morgan), a successful businessman with a pregnant girlfriend. They have a bright future until Brian is shot during a mugging.

The shooting traumatizes Brian; he begins drinking excessively and turns abusive toward his girlfriend, Wendy (Tia Dionne Hodge).

Wendy throws Brian out of their home, and it is downhill for him. He becomes a homeless, raging alcoholic, begging for money on the streets of Jersey City, N.J. For 14 years Brian lives on the streets, never meeting his son — years earlier Wendy had taken out a restraining order against him.

Brian’s life changes when he meets Marvin (Robert G. McKay), who befriends him, first as a chess partner, and later with a job offer at the church where Marvin, is pastor.

Slowly Brian regains control of his life. He joins AA and gets a job as a home-care aide to elderly and disabled people.

If there is one aspect of “Steps” that is troubling, it is the number of coincidences orbiting Brian’s life.

Directors Jay Rodriguez and Rock Davis and writer Eddie Harris rely too much on people around Brian who intersect with each other.

For example, Brian’s first client as a home-care aide is Taji (Walter Fauntleroy), a former gang member who was shot and is now confined to a wheelchair.

Taji, it turns out, is also the man who shot Brian 14 years earlier.

When Wendy and the man she has been seeing for three years decide to get married, they go to Marvin for pre-marriage counseling.

When Brian’s son, Omar (Darius Kaleb), because of troubles at home, tells one of his friends he wants to join him in a gang, it turns out it is led by the thug who shot Taji.

The themes of “Steps” revolve around forgiveness and redemption.

Brian, at first, will only communicate with Taji through notes. Brian’s anger is so overwhelming that he refuses to talk to his former assailant.

At just two minutes under two hours, “Steps” works hard to cram a lot into its storyline — and sometimes it feels like too much.

It also follows a familiar road — one in which you know what is going to happen and the results of those events.

Still, “Steps” is a decent movie because it is a heartfelt drama in which people who are given second chances are rewarded and fulfilled.

I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob.com or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.

STEPS
2½ stars out of 4
Not rated, violence, sexual situations