I'd be more inclined to take film reviews seriously if they were written by unbiased movie goers and not by the cast & crew.
Five reviews total. Four of them gave it 8 stars or better. Three of those never reviewed any other film. Hmmm.
Why are the supporters of faith based films so disingenuous?
It's not just faith-based reviews, but any "cause" people feel strongly to support or resist. It is often just more noticeable in cases like these because of what you pointed out (ie. straw accounts, suspiciously high reviews, etc.). Of course, they could be legitimate and nobody can't prove/disprove that unless IMDB opens up their database of users for public review.
With that said, I don't believe it matters what eight (8) people write about a movie for several reasons.
(1) It doesn't generate enough "buzz" to promote the movie in question.
(2) Some people, myself included, don't care about the hype around a movie and I never watch trailers or read reviews prior to watching something new so there is absolutely NO influence on my opinions/perceptions of the movie/show.
(3) Psychologically speaking, people enjoy movies that align with their belief systems and world views and don't enjoy movies that do not. It is very rare for someone NOT to discount any and all evidence that refutes their belief system no matter how strong it is. This doesn't just happen with religious beliefs, but our viewpoints about our own race/culture/nationality and those of others, different physical abilities and handicaps, education/lack of education, etc. Most people just aren't prepared to honestly look at themselves and question their own beliefs and biases no matter what they see or experience. It's very sad when you think about it.
I enjoy cooking and I never make a recipe I find online unless it has 500+ reviews and has ingredients that I enjoy and I know will be enjoyed by members of my family and any guests. I avoid the ones that are iffy. It's unlike someone has made 500+ fake accounts to review their own recipes and I assume if they have that many family members and/or friends to bolster their recipe, they must be pretty awesome cooks! Either way, I almost never get a "dud" when I stick to this rule.
Sometimes, I start a movie on Netflix and just can't get into it. I turn it off. Sometimes, I start a movie and fall in love with it and find a new thespian or writer or director I want to learn more about. In the big scheme of things, that's basically how everyone decides what to see or not see and in the end it only matters how it is received by the viewer. Their opinion is their own and shouldn't influence if you or I (or anybody else) watches or does not watch a particular work. At the end of the day, we all have that choice.
- Get busy living, or get busy dying. Andy (The Shawshank Redemption)