New in Theaters
(Both playing at the Durango Stadium 9)
Non-Stop
(Not reviewed) Liam Neeson stars in a suspense thriller played out at 40,000 feet in the air. During a transatlantic flight from New York City to London, U.S. Air Marshal Bill Marks (Neeson) receives a series of cryptic text messages demanding that he instruct the airline to transfer $150 million into an off-shore account. Until he secures the money, a passenger on his flight will be killed every 20 minutes. But there’s more to it than that. Rated PG-13.
Son of God
You feel worse about ripping some films than others. If it’s exploitative dreck or cynical torture porn or a brainless sequel, you just fire away, grateful for the opportunity to vent and to warn movie-lovers to stay away.
This is not the case with “Son of God.” You almost wince when reviewing this one. The driving forces behind this miniseries-turned-feature film are the husband-and-wife team of Mark Burnett (creator of such enduring reality series as “Survivor” and “Shark Tank”) and Roma Downey (“Touched by an Angel”), two of the loveliest and most spiritual people it has been my privilege to encounter in the business of show.
There’s also the subject matter. This is the first feature in recent memory telling us a life-spanning story of Jesus Christ, from his birth through the recruitment of the disciples through the Last Supper and the trial before Pontius Pilate, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. It is the story of the faith in which I was raised, and it is a story told here with great reverence and extremely faithful renditions of scenes from the New Testament.
But, alas, it’s not a good movie.
Based on Burnett and Downey’s History channel miniseries “The Bible” (with the addition of new footage), “Son of God” stars the Portuguese-born heartthrob actor Diogo Morgado as Jesus, who has the shiniest white teeth and the most amazingly coiffed long hair of anyone around as he trods the dusty roads of Jerusalem. Morgado wears a kind of knowing smirk on his face as Jesus enlists the 12 disciples and sets out to preach the word, performing miracles such as feeding the multitudes with just a few fishes and loaves of bread.
It’s not a good performance. Morgado throws himself into the work, especially during the prolonged crucifixion sequence, but he hits a lot of wrong notes. He’s reminiscent of one of those New Age magicians who regard the disbelieving throngs with something resembling compassionate pity before wowing them with another amazing trick.
But back to the beginning. Before we even get to the birth of Jesus, the prologue in “Son of God” takes us through the story of Adam and Eve, followed by brief scenes of Noah, Abraham, Moses and King David, among others.
Then the miracle of Christ’s birth is faithfully re-enacted, complete with wise men and the Star of Bethlehem, after which we zoom forward to scenes of Jesus with the disciples and Mary Magdalene, gaining popularity with each passing day, much to the consternation of the Jewish high priest Caiaphas, who brings his concerns to Pontius Pilate, the prefect of the Roman province of Judea.
Of course, we know this story as well as we know any story ever told. With the signature sounds of Hans Zimmer underscoring every scene, director Christopher Spencer doesn’t provide much in the way of creative camerawork as we see Jesus walking on water (the special effects are just OK), turning over the tables of the merchants at the temple, basking in the glory of what will come to be known as Palm Sunday, enduring unspeakable torture before he dies.
Adrian Schiller does good work as the scheming Caiaphas, and Greg Hicks gives the best performance in the film as the coldly calculating Pilate, who shrugs off his plan to execute Jesus thusly: “No one will remember his name in a week.”
While nowhere near as brutal as Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” the scenes of Jesus being whipped as his anguished mother (Downey) cries out are unsparing, as is his long and torturous march while carrying his own cross.
The Resurrection scenes should be glorious and chill-inducing, but again, to see such a literal translation, with Jesus actually glowing while showing his wounds to Thomas, isn’t nearly as powerful and moving as reading the Gospel According to Luke.
“Son of God” debuts on 3,000 screens Friday. According to The Hollywood Reporter, churches and religious groups have some 500,000 tickets in advance to give away. (Relief organization Compassion International has purchased a total of 225,000 tickets in 40 cities, including Chicago.) Some churches have rented out theaters for screenings. Liberty University has rented out a Regal multiplex near its Lynchburg, Va., campus, and “Son of God” will be showing on all 14 screens on Friday.
Nothing wrong with any of that.
When Burnett and Downey were guests with Roe Conn and me on WLS-AM in Chicago, they spoke of their hopes the film will be playing in churches and other venues not just five years from now, but 50 years from now. As an introduction to the life of Jesus for youth of a certain age, “Son of God” is certainly a more impressive piece of work than an inexpensive educational docudrama.
But regardless of your faith (or mine), this space is for me to tell you if a particular film contains a high enough percentage of compelling elements to warrant you devoting $10 and 138 minutes of your time to the experience.
In all good conscience, it’s not even a close call.
20th Century Fox presents a film directed by Christopher Spencer. Written by Christopher Spencer, Richard Bedser, Colin Swash and Nic Young. Starring Diogo Morgado, Roma Downey, Amber Rose Revah, Sebastian Knapp, Darwin Shaw, Greg Hicks and Adrian Schiller. Running time: 138 minutes. Rated PG-13 (for intense and bloody depiction of the Crucifixion, and for some sequences of violence). H½
Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times
Still Showing
Animas City Theatre
(128 E. College Drive, 799-2281, www.animascitytheatre.com)
Best of the Fest: (Wednesday and Thursday) Selected award winners from Durango Film: An Independent Film Festival.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (9 p.m. Thursday only). An encore presentation of the classic and seminal teenage comedy about growing pains.
Gaslight Cinema
(102 Fifth St. Next to the railroad depot, 247-8133, www.allentheatresinc.com)
Winter’s Tale. Will Smith, Jennifer Connelly, Matt Bomer, Colin Farrell and Russell Crowe star in a story of miracles, crossed destinies and the age-old battle between good and evil set in a mythic New York City and spanning more than a century. Rated PG-13.
Dallas Buyer’s Club. In this fact-based drama, Matthew McConaughey portrays real-life Texas electrician Ron Woodroof, an ordinary man who found himself in a life-or-death battle with the medical establishment and pharmaceutical companies. Rated R.
Oscar nominated: Six categories including Best Picture, Best Actor (McConaughey) and Actor in a Supporting Role (Jared Leto).
August: Osage County. This is a dark and deeply touching story of the strong-willed women of the Weston family, whose lives have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Midwest house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman (Meryl Streep) who raised them. Rated R.
Oscar nominated: Best Actress and Actress in a Supporting Role.
Durango Stadium 9
(Next to Durango Mall, 247-9799, www.allentheatresinc.com)
Summer in February (Wednesday only) Dominic Cooper (“The Devil’s Double”) stars as AJ (Later Sir Alfred) Munnings, with Emily Browning (“Sucker Punch”) as Florence Carter-Wood and Dan Stevens (“Downton Abbey”) as Gilbert Evans in a film based on Jonathan Smith’s novel about love and loss among a bohemian colony of artists which flourished in the wild coastal region of Cornwall before the First World War. Not rated.
3 Days to Kill. Kevin Costner plays an elite government hit man who after receiving news that he has a terminal disease, decides to give up his high stakes life to finally build a relationship with his estranged wife and daughter, whom he’s previously kept at arm’s length to keep out of danger. But when his agency offers him an experimental, potentially life-saving drup in exchange for one last mission, it’s an offer he can’t refuse—even if it means juggling his two toughest assignments. Rated PG-13.
Pompeii. (In standard format and digital 3-D with surcharge.) Set in 79 A.D., “Pompeii” tells the epic story of Milo (Kit Harington), a slave turned invincible gladiator who finds himself in a race against time to save his true love Cassia (Emily Browning), the beautiful daughter of a wealthy merchant who has been unwillingly betrothed to a corrupt Roman Senator. As Mount Vesuvius erupts in a torrent of blazing lava, Milo must fight his way out of the arena in order to save his beloved as the once magnificent Pompeii crumbles around him. Rated PG-13.
Robocop. The year is 2028 and multinational conglomerate OmniCorp is at the center of robot technology. Overseas, their drones have been used by the military for years - and it’s meant billions for OmniCorp’s bottom line. Now OmniCorp wants to bring their controversial technology to the home front, and they see a golden opportunity to do it.
When Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) - a loving husband, father and good cop doing his best to stem the tide of crime and corruption in Detroit - is critically injured in the line of duty, OmniCorp sees their chance for a part-man, part-robot police officer. OmniCorp envisions a RoboCop in every city and even more billions for their shareholders, but they never counted on one thing: there is still a man inside the machine pursuing justice. Rated PG-13.
The Lego Movie. (In standard format and digital 3-D with surcharge.) An ordinary LEGO minifigure, mistakenly thought to be the extraordinary MasterBuilder, is recruited to join a quest to stop an evil LEGO tyrant from gluing the universe together. With the voices of Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett and Morgan Freeman. Rated PG.
The Monuments Men. George Clooney and Matt Damon star in what passes for a true story in Hollywood about a special unit on the hunt for Nazi art plunder during World War II. Rated PG-13.
Frozen. Inspired by the 19th-century fairy tale, “The Snow Queen,” by Hans Christian Andersen, “Frozen” marks another Disney film modernizing one of the Danish author’s stories. Also showing, a new version will feature on-screen lyrics with a magical bouncing snowflake to follow along. Rated PG.
Oscar nominated: Best Animated Feature Film.
Ride Along. Ben wants to become a cop so he can impress James and win his blessing to marry Angela. James thinks Ben is a clown, so he comes up with a plan to scare Ben away from becoming a cop and from marrying Angela: He’ll take Ben on a “ride along.” PG-13.
Ted Holteen and Associated Press
