We like it when our friends become successful

Words cannot begin to describe how happy I am for my friend and colleague Jeffrey Overstreet, who just announced at his blog that Random House has offered him a two-book deal.

I’m not sure where or when I first made contact with Jeff, but I believe it was primarily through a couple of now-defunct e-mail discussion lists devoted to Sam Phillips and Steve Taylor in the mid-1990s. The first time I met him in person was when I drove down to Seattle to see The Apostle (my review) in early 1998, at a time when the film was getting a lot of attention in the religious press but still did not even have a Canadian distributor, much less a release date. And I think the first time I met his lovely wife Anne was when they came up to Vancouver to attend an unusually early press screening of The Prince of Egypt with me later that year.

Jeff and I have fairly different tastes and temperaments, so our reactions to films — and I do mean reactions, as opposed to responses, which is something else entirely — are often quite different too, but I think we share a common philosophy about the work we do, and on those occasions when I have wanted to go beyond the normal boundaries of “Christian film criticism” and promote edgier stuff like, say, The Dreamlife of Angels (1999; my review), it has been great to have him in my corner; back in the days before the explosion of online Christian film criticism, I could always count on Jeff’s moral support. And I still can.

I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t observed his recent successes with a bit of pride and envy. I remember paying a visit to his church in December 2001, on my way to a concert or some such thing. This was shortly after I had attended a press screening for The Fellowship of the Ring, and Jeff — who was setting up a special “Tolkien party” as we spoke — was curious to know what the film was like. Two years later, it was Jeff who had the professional upper hand; as I waited patiently for The Return of the King to be given a Vancouver press screening, he was flown out to the press junket, where he met many of the cast members in person.

But no, I’m not about to start singing Morrissey’s ‘We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful’. I am truly happy for Jeff. All I ask is for an autographed copy of his first published book!