Noble is, start to finish, a film that challenges the quality of what a faith-based film is allowed to do. Even aside from the international film awards it's accumulated, the film carries itself more as a semi-gritty indie biopic than your standard film aimed at Christian audiences. 

The main protagonist, Christina Noble, has a sort of strained relationship with God due to a series of heartbreaking events in her youth. Yet she always returns to him in times of trouble, albeit with a bit of a feisty streak. Her blunt prayers become a recurring motif in the film and serve to allow the character to appeal both to faith-based viewers and non-faith based alike. She's not blindly peddling corporate Christian taglines, but rather she seeks God's help to ultimately accomplish a greater good.

The film's narrative jumps back and forth between the present and a point in the past. This is a common movie narrative tool, but I had mixed feelings on its usage here. While each scene was able to complete its arc, and while the film never veered off into boring or confusing territory, I couldn't escape the feeling that the film could have been slightly stronger if a more linear approach had been taken. Still, this also doesn't detract from the film in a noticeable way, so that may fall to a matter of taste. 

I will say that some of the plot's driving events also do lose a bit of their power from some rushing. It's not the pace per se of the film as a whole that feels rushed, but rather some individual sequences of events going so quickly that the entire paradigm of the story may have shifted in a breath.

While not shying away from portraying the harsh realities of life on the streets, the film avoids anything even bordering on graphic. It's a credit to the power of the unseen, which could serve as a lesson to other indie flicks that think that high art is achieved by stretching the bounds of what the MPAA will allow. The things that befall Christina Noble could have easily made for R-rated fare, but the "less is more" approach of this flick serves it well.

In terms of performance, this is really where the movie has a runaway edge. Deirdre O'Kane carries and centers the film with a performance that balances sarcastic comedy, feisty go-getting, resilient drama and tender emotion. Yet, unlike many performances that swing for awards, this one doesn't ever wallow in melodrama or anything too grand. This helps it feel all the more real and allows the emotional moments to hit better because of the understated realness of the performance as a whole. Sarah Greene and Gloria Cramer Curtis are also appropriately effective as the younger versions of Christina.

The film's ultimately trajectory is both inspiring and gripping, with an important thematic message that should resonate with all audiences. 

The Bottom Line: Destined to be an under appreciated indie gem, Noble is an example of a film that can balance positive themes with true art and balance real grit and darkness with an effectively subtle and understated approach.