Second Glance (1992)

Originality isn’t in the story being told, but in how the story is told. That’s something that I’ve said a lot over the years in Sunday “Bad” Movies. If you think originality is in the story itself, then you must think there is absolutely nothing original coming out. Everything tells the same story as something that came before it. There are simply some details changed to make it feel like a different story. And that’s where you get originality.

Some stories feel much less original than others. I’ll give you that. Studios frequently try to ape what other studios have made to cash in on the success of a hit. Think back to the 1988 when Die Hard found success in the box office and every studio decided to copy the idea for other movies. Speed was considered “Die Hard on a bus” (though, I think there are some major differences in story structure, but that’s another post for another time on another blog). Under Siege was considered “Die Hard on a boat.” Paul Blart: Mall Cop (a little later than the 90s, when most of these Die Hard on a… movies came out) was “Die Hard in a mall.” Sometimes studios come up with similar ideas at around the same time. White House Down and Olympus Has Fallen. No Strings Attached and Friends with Benefits. It happens.

Some of the more interesting and fun blatant copycats to look at are Christmas movies and Christian movies. They don’t even try to hide the fact that they’re copying other stories and putting a holiday or religious packaging on them. Violent Night was kind of a Die Hard that got more Christmas themed. The Princess Switch was a holiday themed telling of The Prince and the Pauper. There was an animated Christian movie called Finding Jesus that took cues from Finding Nemo. And then there’s the movie I want to get into a little bit of detail about, Second Glance.

Dan Burgess (David A.R. White) was a teenager growing up in a Christian home. He was part of the Christian club at his high school. He helped other teens who were in bad situations by showing them the way of God. But he wasn’t satisfied. His parents wouldn’t allow him to go to parties with the other teens. He couldn’t go after the girl he had a crush on because she was a little bit of a bad girl. Dan wanted to live freely, without having to always follow the way of the lord. Luckily for him, an angel would grant his wish. Dan would see what life was like if he wasn’t a Christian.

That last little bit of description might have tipped you off on what Second Glance copied. It was a Christian version of It’s a Wonderful Life, a movie that already had an angel showing a man that he needed to be around because his presence was a good influence on his community. Second Glance would do the same thing, but have it based solely on Christianity. Dan would also exist in the new timeline, as opposed to nobody knowing about him at all.

Much like It’s A Wonderful Life, the story of Second Glance was about the world being a better place when the main character was there, being the person he was. The town of Bedford Falls would be a terrible place without the presence of George Bailey. George had kept the people and the town safe throughout the years. Without him, it became unsavoury, and many people suffered undeserved consequences.

The same could be said for the town in Second Glance. Without Dan following the ways of the Lord, the town and the people fell upon hard times. Dan’s friend Scotty died. The Christian club at the school no longer existed. Everyone was worse to one another. Dan learned this because he was able to see it firsthand in the alternate reality the angel placed him into. He was able to see what the world would be like if he wasn’t a Christian, and the world was bleak. By the standards of a movie that wasn’t post-apocalyptic.

After contemplating suicide and attempting it by jumping off a bridge, George Bailey was shown that Bedford Falls needed him. They needed him just as he was. A Bedford Falls without George Bailey wasn’t Bedford Falls anymore, quite literally. The same could be said for Daniel renouncing Christianity. An agnostic Daniel, or atheist, wasn’t Daniel. It was bad for the town. Too many things were changed for the worse if he wasn’t Christian. He could see that. He was shown that. It renewed his faith in God and put him back on the path of making things righteous again.

That said, one of the movies was about restoring one man’s will to live. The other was one man’s faith in a higher power. Both had religious aspects, since both characters were thrown into their alternate realities by angels. However, a lecture by the angel near the end of Second Glance made that film much more about spreading religion than being a good person. The angel simply wanted God to be believed in by everyone. The good was a byproduct. God was the important part.

Second Glance wasn’t an original story. It shared many beats with another, more popular movie in It’s a Wonderful Life. But I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was an unoriginal story. It took those beats and told its own story with them. Second Glance was a religious story told through the structure of It’s a Wonderful Life. It was an original telling of a non-original story, and I think the way it was retold was original enough to override the unoriginality.

Something being original doesn’t come from the story itself. It doesn’t come from the structure, or the characters, or the individual story beats. Originality comes from the whole. If a story is told in a different way, even if it’s the same story you’ve heard or seen many times before, that makes to story original. Originality comes from the way a story is told, not the story itself. That’s my perspective. That has always been my perspective. I hope I’m not the only person who feels that way.

You know how these end:

• I mentioned The Princess Switch in this post.
• Second Glance featured David A.R. White, who was in God’s Not Dead, God’s Not Dead 2, God’s Not Dead: A Light in Darkness, God’s Not Dead: We the People, and Brother White.
• Have you seen Second Glance? What did you think of it? Let me know your thoughts in the comments, on Threads, or on BlueSky.
• If there’s a movie you think I should check out for Sunday “Bad” Movies, let me know. Leave it in the comments or hit me up on Threads or BlueSky.
• I already have a next movie lined up. I already have a new post written. I just have to edit. It’ll probably go up next week. Crossroads. The Britney Spears movie. Come back for that one soon.