In the movie Doonby, Sam Doonby, a 40-something-yr-old drifter (John Schneider), aimlessly wanders into the town of Smithville, Texas, and promptly begins being in the right place at the right time.

Doonby saves his bar owner boss from robbers, stops a deranged psycho from raping and murdering his girlfriend, and pulls a little boy from a shopping cart just before a Mack truck smashes into it.

Doonby is evasive about his origins but is nevertheless an easy-on-the-eyes real nice guy who can even play guitar and sing…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp3xHh-nsAU&feature=related[/youtube]

Semi-Spoiler Alert: Read no further if you want to be kept in total suspense.

The plot begins to thicken when Doonby has a very bad reaction when meeting Laura’s father, an ob-gyn named Dr. Cyrus Reaper (Joe Estevez, younger brother of Martin Sheen).

It turns out Doonby, Reaper, and Reaper’s wife Barbara Ann (Jennifer O’Neill) all hail from the same small town of Parkerville, Louisiana.

Note all the underlined words.

In an interview on Fox News in March, Schneider said Doonby “is It’s a Wonderful Life without the wonderful part.” Pro-lifers should by now be putting the pieces together.

Pro-life heroine Norma McCorvey has an important small role in Doonby, although she’s strangely not listed in the credits. I am guessing her name would be a big red flag to liberals.

Norma and Jennifer are together in one scene, which will be touching to those who know their histories in our movement.

Doonby has a powerful, 4-star plot. That this storyline even made the big screen with major actors agreeing to participate is amazing. Schneider told the Hollywood Reporter:

It’s a real clever script that you can’t quite figure out until the final minutes of the story… But nowadays, it’s the people involved in the projects that attract me more than the projects themselves. There has to be a high level of integrity, passion and skill.”

His more recent film roles have been in Christian-themed fare….

Estevez, likewise, became involved in Doonby because of its message. From WorldNetDaily.com:

“I used to pray every day asking God to send me work,” he said. “And God sent me work. I’ve been pretty steady all my life. Then about 5 years ago, I changed that prayer.

“I thanked God for all the work He sent, but I said, ‘Would You please send work that would have some change for the good in society? So that I could do good work in good movies and make a difference?'”

Estevez believes that his roles in Doonby and other movies over the past couple of years have been godsends.

I just wish Doonby had been better directed, edited, and acted in spots.

For its choppiness and sometimes poor character and plot development, I ultimately have to give Doonby 2-1/2 stars. I still recommend seeing it, but it could have been better.

Nevertheless, despite its shortcomings, Doonby should be a huge conversation starter, and for that I am grateful to all who made it. Here’s the trailer.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSnIbu5ez00[/youtube]

According to producer Mark Joseph, who I met this morning at the Doonby screening in Chicago, the plan is to release Doonby this fall in 500 theatres. They need $4-5 million for printing and advertising to meet that goal.