I'm alarmed by the amount of negative reviews this film has received. It doesn't deserve as much hate as it's received, and I'll explain why.

For starters, this film does NOT serve as an exploitative take on the Columbine shooting. In fact, that's really only a small portion of the content of the film. Ultimately, it's not so much about the quality of the film but the purpose and intention, especially considering one like this. There are plenty of films that are expertly crafted and yet reprehensible in their messages, but would be lauded for the former and even the latter.

For starters, this is a very well-made film, near superb. The cinematography, camerawork, editing, and lighting are all good, sometimes terrific, with very powerful images and striking shots. The scene with Rachel walking the edge of the building is hauntingly well-executed. Accompanied by the depth that she is given as a person, it's top-notch.

This was a young girl as conflicted and flawed as any one of us, despite her faith. She isn't depicted as a total saint or a complete do-gooder, but rather as someone who chose to do good, despite having many instances in which she was rebellious, even making wrong decisions in her walk and still feeling empty when everything seemed to be going good. The depiction of Rachel dealing with her emotions is so raw and believable that there's no way this could be seen as exploitive. She was seeking a more intimate relationship with Christ and struggled to see Him, but she never gave up. The performance given by Masey McLain is OUTSTANDING! Not only does she look like her, but she sounds like her. Rachel Joy Scott may have been a Believer in Christ, but that didn't mean that she was sterile, bland, without personality, uninteresting, or sinless, so I STRONGLY admire the realism that was put it in to making her come to life on-screen. I can't really complain about the music choices because it'd be too expensive to license music from the 90s, but what is there works.

So that covers the filmmaking aspect of it; yet does it deliver a good message?

Yes, I'm happy to report. All of this talk about it being exploitation is nonsense. The reality is that the media simply doesn't like the Christian message that's a huge part of this film, considering that it wants to be an accurate depiction of... a victim who was actually a Christian. Why are people so opposed to the way this person lived her life? She wanted to make an impact on others, and that's how she was remembered. She fought to live her life for Christ, and being the victim of a horrendous act of violence, it's all the more tragic.

She wasn't perfect in her walk with Christ, but she seemed to have a heart of gold. The beliefs shown in the film are what she wanted to project in public, and it's honorable that her mother continues her legacy of spreading love.

I highly recommend watching this movie carefully, and if you do, you'll notice that it doesn't use tragedy to exploit. Even though there are conflictions with this, if the last words she gave were truly what she said, then I can only commend her for her nobility in her beliefs in Jesus Christ. This movie had me all kinds of emotional. Loved it.

If you are a Christian and like movies about Christianity, then "I'm Not Ashamed" is probably worth your time. If you don't fall into this category, however, then you probably won't appreciate or like the movie...it's that simple.

This movie is a dramatization of the life of one of the victims of the infamous Columbine Massacre back in 1999. Rachel Joy Scott was a Christian girl who died that day and the film shows her progression from a casual Christian to an 'out and proud Christian'...and how that ultimately led to be being singled out for murder (something the media at the time de-emphasized) as well as the impact this young girl had on others' lives. It's all very sweet...as well as very disturbing and sad...at the same time.

I think the biggest reason I appreciated the film is that while it showed a recreation of the events on the day of the Columbine High School shooting, it did NOT show very much--just the killing of Scott and shooting of a boy she was with at the time (whether or not he died as well, I do not know). The sum total of all this is oddly inspirational and there were no dry eyes in the audience at the end (hint--take along some Kleenex). I also appreciate how this film and quite a few others have recently targeted the Christian audience--giving them some family-friendly films that are well made and worth seeing. But, considering the subject matter, it is NOT a film for young kids.

. . . with ELEPHANT, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN, and THE UN!TED STATES OF LELAND being the three best. Apart from a few major flaws, I'M NOT ASHAMED might be on the short list for fourth place. The most glaring error in logic is placing Rachel's murder on the grass outside Columbine High School, where she's sitting alone with a virtual stranger. All four people within earshot (including the two killers) of her Big Moment are dead or dying within the hour. This seems to be an admission on the part of her family (which has apparently made upwards of $220 million and counting from Rachel's Big Moment, according to the closing credits) that it's merely wishful thinking upon their part (to put a charitable spin on it) that Rachel's Big Moment happened at all. Otherwise, ASHAMED portrays Rachel as a Wannabe, a constant Back-Slider belonging to Columbine High's chain-smoking, boozing, casual-sex, pothead, bullying clique. (Her killer, Dylan Klebold, specifically points out to her earlier that he and the rest of the Trenchcoat Mafia listen politely to HER school project, but when it's THEIR TURN, Rachel nips it in the bud--thanks to her being a Teacher's Pet--for being Politically Incorrect!) Rachel's journals, constantly featured here, are packed with quotes such as "I didn't want to live through the night," and she's shown teetering along a High-rise parapet playing Russian Roulette with her every stumbling step. Her religious sect teaches that "God works in mysterious ways," so it seems that this Rachel-Centric flick is suggesting that their God let Columbine happen largely if not primarily to save Rachel's Family from the Trauma of her impending suicide (or worse, such as a drunken wrong-way highway crash wiping out an Innocent Family of Five). You always hear from this Holier-Than-Though Crowd platitudes such as "Every Cloud has a Silver Lining," but in their case, it seems to be Golden!