Mary, Mother of Jesus
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Movie Reviews of Mary, Mother of Jesus
Movie Review: The Gospel According to Mary
Summary: 3 Stars
Implementing an admirably brisk pace, and sporting some exciting crowd and chase scenes, 'Mary, Mother of Jesus' has an instant appeal. Keeping close to scripture in key portions of Mary's and Jesus' lives, the film, nevertheless, may bring controversy with some of the fill-in interpretational moments. With good performances all around, especially Pernilla August in the title role and Christian Bale as the grown Jesus, the movie, however, presents a Mary that's a little more outspoken and fiesty than we're accustomed to. (Sometimes I had to wince when Mary teaches Jesus the "Good Samaritan" story and her protest against a stoning of an adulterer before Jesus is born. Yet, the Bible does state that Jesus "increased in wisdom and in stature..." He did learn things.) Also, John the Baptist seems fiery and folksy enough to bring a genuine translation (one of the best performances in memory of him), and Judy Cornwell as the Innkeeper's wife (Judy Cornwell) provides some comic relief with her robust performance. The details are also worthy. The scenery provides a simple beauty that never brings a stage presence to the film.
Just as 'The Robe' surmises the Jesus story from the point-of-view of a convert after the repurcussions of Jesus's ordeal, 'Mary,...' provides another portrait of the gospel as witnessed by a key participant in Jesus's life.
Movie Review: Christian Bale bails Christians
Summary: 2 Stars
I'm not reviewing the Biblical accuracy of this movie, or how different religious sects might react to it. I'm just going to review the actual quality of this movie. And that quality is remarkably low.
I'm assuming that this is a made-for-tv movie, because it definitely plays like one, there's even occasional blackouts, I'm guessing where there were originally commercial breaks. The main problems with this film, and there are several minor ones we won't concern with, are the production value being incredibly low, the fact that all the actors are white and have ENGLISH accents (they even go so far as to have the owner of the manger where Jesus is born have a COCKNEY accent, as if to show she's of a lower class, but a lower BRITISH class,mind you), and the stilted dialogue accompanied by painful performances.
Christian Bale is still surprisingly good, even surrounded by so much mediocrity, but one actor can only pull a film so far, especially when the film is focussed on the life of Mary, and so Jesus doesn't come into the film until about a third of the way through. Bale is really the reason I wanted to see this movie, and it's almost worth seeing just to see Bale's intense devotion to his character amidst such an absurd backdrop. You really have to feel bad for him, but also thankful that he got cast in American Psycho the year after this and shot to stardom instead of languishing in films like this for years to come.
Mary, Mother of Jesus is so devastatingly bad that at times it almost seems like a Monty Python parody of a Christian movie. Honestly, if you're moved by a single frame in this film then you are simply predisposed to enjoy it no matter what the quality, because this film is of the lowest caliber. It gets two stars for Bale's performance, and the rest gets zero.
Movie Review: Quite Unbiblical
Summary: 1 Stars
I couldn't finish watching this movie because of the serious inconsistancies with Scripture. There were three advisors listed in the credits, two priests and a rabbi. I wonder how these Catholic priests allowed their names to be associated with this movie.
You can say it is inspirational but if key details are wrong and false, it will ultimately not lead you closer to the Real Jesus because the details are important and relate to the Incarnation as foretold in the Old Testament.
Showed Joseph angry, accusational and cruel about Mary's pregancy
Omitted Elizabeths greeting of Mary as "Mother of My Lord"
Implied Mary had pain at childbirth
Omitted presentation in the Temple
Showed Mary as the decision maker in going to Egypt
Implied by Jesus' questions that he didn't know he was God.
You can learn much more about the life of Jesus looking through the eyes of Mary when you pray the Rosary (which after all is simply the prayer of the Gospel).