The Homeless Hero
With her abusive mum stoned pretty much all the time young Clancy Miller (Christina Fougnie), with her teddy bear clutched to her chest, runs away from home when she hears that the social workers are coming, believing that once her mum has got some help she can return. With her strong faith and good nature Clancy comes to the attention of Nick (Jefferson Moore), a gruff homeless veteran, when he witnesses her giving her own sandwiches to a homeless girl and so decides to follow and watch over her although at times Nick thinks it is the other way as she sits on the bench opposite where he along with other homeless guys clean cars. Meanwhile the local Mayor is desperate to get re-elected as he has financial fraud to cover up and so plans to use Clancy going missing as the cause to get re-elected even if he builds a false picture of what is going on.
As I have come to realise there are two main types of Christian Cinema; there are those which are evangelical aiming to spread the word to a mainstream audience and then there are those made for an already Christian audience who seek entertainment which will be inline with their moral compass. "Clancy" is in the second group as whilst it might entertain an audience who watch movies on TV in the afternoon who enjoy touching dramas it isn't going to win much praise from a mainstream audience seeking excitement and high production values.
So yes that means "Clancy" is a good hearted movie about young Clancy having an effect on Nick as he looks after. We see how her faith in Christ begins to wear off on Nick who goes from an angry homeless guy to ... well you need to watch to find out but you can pretty much guess there is some pleasant bonding going on. There is also some comedy, well of sorts, as Clancy is extremely innocent and doesn't understand the ways of living homeless whilst thinks its cool when Nick disarms a guy with a gun. Now there is more to this than just the bonding as we have the Mayor trying to secure re-election and in a small spoiler he wants to pay Nick to baby-sit Clancy for a week so he can then be the hero just at the right time. It gives "Clancy" that little bit extra it needs to stop it from becoming monotonous and makes it less predictable as to how it will end.
The thing about "Clancy" is that it feels low budget and made with domestic equipment which unfortunately contributes to a feel of being an afternoon special. Add to that a preachy side which you get from a movie which is made for an already Christian audience and it is at times a little bit of a push for those who stumble across this and decide to give it a go. Although having said that it is still a touching, often sweet movie and both Christina Fougnie and Jefferson Moore put in effective performances.
What this all boils down to is that as I said "Clancy" is the sort of Christian cinema made for an already Christian audience who wish to watch something which isn't going to offend their beliefs. But whilst it is flawed with issues common to Christian cinema including those which stem from budget and equipment it is both touching and surprisingly engrossing.
