"It is said that God brings people together. But it is also said, in perhaps smaller circles, that God brings people to themselves."

The Big Shot-Caller tells the story of Jamie, a young man who has been emotionally shut down since a child. His father is a lout. His sister Lianne ran away from home early. He has an eye disorder that seems to put most people off. He longs for some sort of connection, but doesn't seem to be up to making a relationship. The few times he does find someone, it ends badly. Finally he hooks up with his sister. They haven't really been part of each other's lives, but they do have their common background to draw on.

Lianne has had a hard time as well, but we really don't get much insight into that other than what we expect a teenage runaway might have gone through. Now she seems hard, but a survivor. There are times, however, when we see behind the façade and know that she has her own fears and insecurities.

It is in their relationship that Lianne brings a bit of wisdom to help Jamie understand a bit more about life. Her life experience has taught her that "connection" is not enough in itself. She remembers many times of "waiting for a scrap of love" because there was a "connection." Her main advice is to love yourself first.

But she also tells Jamie that he has to be aware that there is always something more happening—that God is in charge. It is God who is the "big shot-caller" and has things at work that we never know until everything comes together. She tells him to just have faith.

This isn't an unusual sentiment. There are many people (of various religious traditions) that hold that in some way the hand of God is shaping lives in very specific ways. I even look for God to lead my life. But something about the way it is thrown into this story just grates at me a bit. It's just a bit too handy in this setting. The idea is tossed out as though the concept is self-evident. Even when Jamie holds that there is no God, he doesn't seem quite so sure that God isn't calling shots.

But that isn't to say that the concept is only treated superficially by the film. There are times it seems to be, such as when Jamie's former co-worker and now salsa student reflects on how they knew each other before and now. But the film also seems to see that God isn't just an excuse to believe things happen for a reason. It's easy to imply that God will shift things around in life to help two people find each other. But while that is what the plot seems to be showing, the film finally gives us another perspective—the one noted in the quote I use to open this review—that what is really important is the way God is able to open us up to self-discovery.

In some ways, this strives to be a philosophical film. To be sure it fits into the wisdom tradition of looking at life and its difficulties and trying to understand what it means to have a good life. For Jamie, he finally finds a good life by fulfilling his dream of dancing salsa at a high level. But that in itself is not the good life he finds. Rather he finds meaning and fulfillment in the struggle to overcome all the forces arrayed against him—both internal and external. In that struggle, God manages to bring Jamie to himself.