Jazzed About the Big Screen

Blue Like Jazz: The Movie -- here's an excerpt from an interview with Donald Miller and Steve Taylor

So without giving too much away, what would you say is the basic story arc?

Miller: It's a movie about coming out of the closet regarding who you are as a person. The character happens to be a Christian and is very ashamed of that, but he's able to come out of the closet by the end of it. It's really a film more about a human being than it is about Christianity. Christianity is really just the thing that this human being is dealing with.
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Do you feel like you're making a movie with universal appeal, or one that will be targeted primarily to a Christian audience?

Miller: We want it to have a universal appeal, but honestly I think it will be mostly Christians who go to see it. People bought cases of the book to hand to people who weren't Christians and many people have come to know Christ through reading the book, and I think the movie is very similar. It's the sort of film I could bring my friend who's not a Christian to, not to introduce them to the gospel or to Jesus, but to introduce them to me. This is my life, this is my struggle and this is how I feel. I think the movie will be kind of a relational tool for Christians to help them be understood in an American culture. And to me that's a very powerful tool. Many people come to know Christ through their relationships with believers, and this is a tool that enhances and deepens those relationships.