LUCKY LOUIE

Here's the good news up front: this one is a rare treat — a mystery the whole family can enjoy together with nothing to wince at. It tells a fun, redemptive story full of surprises, and it lands on a genuinely inspiring truth: it's never too late to change.

The content is about as clean as movies come. No foul language, no sex, no nudity, no drinking or drugs — just light violence in the opening robbery. What you get instead is a warm story about faith, repentance, making amends, and salvation through Jesus Christ, carried by a great lead performance.

If your family loves a whodunnit — the kind that recalls MONK, REMINGTON STEELE, or MURDER, SHE WROTE — gather everyone and go. The only thing worth knowing beforehand is a worldview wrinkle we'll get to below. Otherwise, this is an easy yes.

Fifty years ago, four masked robbers hit a bank — and the mastermind vanished with the loot, leaving his partners in the lurch. The missing $350,000 was never found. Two of the thieves were never even identified.

Retired detective Wilbert Moser can't let it go. The statute of limitations has run out, but the case still haunts his nights. Even the ex-cons he brought to Christ in his weekly Bible study are tired of hearing about it. Then a young criminology student arrives, wanting to write her thesis on the crime — and reluctantly, Wilbert agrees to walk her through exactly how the robbery went down.

Three stars, and they're well earned. This is a fun, redemptive mystery with multiple surprises and a satisfying, inspiring ending — the kind of clean whodunnit that reveals its culprit in time-tested fashion. Fans of police procedurals, in books or on screen, will feel right at home.

Basil Hoffman, of ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN and MY FAVORITE YEAR, leads the cast as the retired detective and delivers a great performance. He's backed by veteran character actor Daniel Roebuck as one of the ex-cons, Stephanie Zimbalist of REMINGTON STEELE as Wilbert's pastor, and Madelyn Dundon of GETTING GRACE as the aspiring detective. Roebuck co-wrote and co-directed with his daughter, Grace.

If it recalls the comical charm of MONK and MURDER, SHE WROTE with a dash of BARNABY JONES, that's the company it keeps — and mostly deserves.

This is a film built on a very strong Christian, biblical foundation, and it wears that faith gladly. It stresses repentance, making amends, prayer, the life of the church, and salvation through Jesus Christ — and it dramatizes them through the men Wilbert has led to the Lord, ex-cons now sitting in his Bible study. Alongside its faith, the movie carries a strong respect for law, order, and the police, which fits its story of a detective who never stopped caring about justice.

Its central promise is the one worth showing your kids: it's never too late to change. The mastermind's betrayal is real, and so is the possibility of redemption for anyone in the story willing to turn around.

One worldview note deserves an honest mention. The church in the film is led by a female pastor — a choice many excellent Bible scholars believe is not scriptural. It's worth knowing before you go, and worth talking about after. Weigh it as your convictions lead you.

At its heart, this movie is about a debt long unpaid and a change that's never out of reach. Scripture says it plainly: "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

This is the kind of movie you can turn on with grandparents and grandkids in the same room and know everyone's in good hands — a fun mystery with real heart and a message about second chances that never goes out of style. One worldview note to discuss, nothing to fear. So here's our answer, the same one we opened with: worth the trip.