Strange Friends is a great film.

The film shows a lot of heart as it tells the story of Ross the mob enforcer as he searches for his missing niece and winds up having a crisis of faith.

The acting is very good for a low-budget flick. In particular Michael Ochotorena gives a fantastic performance as Ross.

Strange Friends is a undeniably a Christian film, but it's not a preachy one, rather the movie is grim and gritty in all the right places, and when by the end, it turns to a feel-good vibe, you'll readily accept that it has earned the right to do so.

And it is quite funny in places. The best of this being, IMHO, Ross's encounter with the loan shark Malvado :-)

All in all, Strange Friends is a cool and uplifting, way to kill an hour and a half.

I was actually looking at shows containing the word "Strange" when I found this movie totally by accident (i.e., Stranger Things, Dr. Strange, Strangelove, Strange Days, etc.)

I never heard of it, but thought I'd give it a try. It starts out in a bar with mobster Ross reflecting about his druggy runaway niece and how he needs to take care of things, as his sister asked him to help find her after the police failed to uncover any leads.

The sister is a clingy religious type and that turned Ross off, but nevertheless, he agrees to find the niece and after making some underworld contact with "Broadway", he finds she's shacked up with a druggie in a trailer park.

The confrontation with Ross and Joey was quite good, very well acted, and sucked me into the whole plot. Ross was pretty rough with Joey and ultimately does manage to locate his niece. What happens next is a total surprise as the tables are turned on Ross and he finds himself fighting for his life.

Without spoiling the film and some of the surprises of what comes next, there are two points to consider that, to me, were worth noting 1) it ended up being a religious movie and 2) it was not a lily-white religious movie as many often are.

I actually found myself enjoying this picture even though I typically don't seek 'faith and family friendly' films (honestly, I'm more of the action/adventure type and don't like being preached at). However, this film was entertaining enough to keep my interest and acted well.

I could tell it was an independent picture, but I'm cool with watching these as the big-budget blockbusters are all-to-often rehashing the same story lines over and over. That being said, don't expect a big budget production here, but the story ultimately is about a prodigal and family values, which found reconciliation amongst hardship, so to that degree delivered its intent.

I'm giving it an 8 out of 10, as I ended up liking this indie flick, but just didn't like the longer preachy scenes. Still pretty good otherwise.