The Body
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Movie Reviews of The Body
Movie Review: Is Jesus Christ???
Summary: 4 Stars
I saw this movie a week a go and I think its a great movie because if you are a catholic it could confuse you and also you start to think what would happen if Jesus do not resurrected. You can see in this movie how a priest lose his faith in Jesus.Movie Review: The Body never rises to its potential.
Summary: 3 Stars
I was drawn to this film by its interesting "What If" premise. Banderas plays a Jesuit priest comissioned by the Vatican to debunk the possibility that the body of Christ has been found in an excavated tomb in Jerusalem, the validity of which could obviously be disasterous to the Church if it is proved that the Resurrection was just a myth as suggested by the skeletal remains indicating that Jesus was merely just a man. With this kind of theological dillema, the plot sets up a great conflict not only for Banderas as Father Matt Gutierrez who struggles against his faith from the subjective truth that could be revealed, but the implication it will have for Israel between the Christians, the Jews, and the Moslems all fighting for control of the Holy Land. Unfortunately, as is the case with just about any film that touches on religious subject matter, it never has a chance to answer any of the big questions it asks from the start. By the time the film ends, we know nothing more about "Dem Bones" then we did from the beginning (Alpha and Omega) which can lead one to draw their only conclusions or beliefs about the validity of The Body, but what more could you really be expecting... the Second Coming? The problem with religious films is that they usually try to lure you into the theater under false pretense with the dramatic premise, then try to beat you over the head with a proverbial Bible to convert the audience to their ideology (i.e. The Judas Project and The Omega Code). Fortunately, this is not the case with The Body. The film's mediocrity is probably attributed mostly to its low-budget feel and production value. I was excited to see Vilmos Zsigmond credited as the Director of Photography but completely forget about him while watching the film. I was disappointed because a cinematographer of his repertoire (Close Encounters, Deliverance) could have given this film just the atmospheric lift it needed in support of the dramatic subject. Gladiator alumns, Derek Jacobi and John Schrapnel are aptly cast in supporting roles reminiscent of their conspiring Roman Senators Gracchus and Gaius from Gladiator. Even with a star like Banderas attached, you can tell that no studio wanted to touch this and it is evident from the lack of theatrical distribution and marketing support for the film. The Body came and went in theaters and no one ever knew or will probably ever care. Perhaps that, in itself, is a bigger statement about society's genuine interest in religious hypothesis.Movie Review: A Question of Faith
Summary: 3 Stars
A good movie and worth the time spent watching it. The Body brings up some very seriouse philosophical points, mixed with science and relidgeon, and a belief still held fast by faith.A Body of a crucified man found in a tomb reserved for the rich, concealed and bearing all the crucifixion marks, even the crown of thorns and a spear in the side. Is it really the body of Christ??? and what happens to the world, our beliefs, and our way of life if it is found that it is.
The Body has very little in the way of extras and bonus materials, having only two trailors and a filmography of banderras. Still a good movie, and at the very least worth a rental.
Movie Review: a real missed opportunity
Summary: 2 Stars
**1/2 What could be sadder for lovers of great movies than a case of missed opportunity? So many films are so piddling in their ambition, scope and purpose that, as jaded moviegoers, we crave that rare film that will tackle monumental themes, fearless of consequences and immune to compromise."The Body" had the potential to be one of the most provocative and controversial films of recent times - a film so challenging in its theme that it would make "The Last Temptation of Christ" look like a Sunday School lesson. Let's face it: you don't win popularity contests by challenging the very foundation of one of the world's core religions (as the brouhaha over "Temptation" a dozen or so years ago testified). Alas, for all its potential for greatness, "The Body," after displaying the temerity to pick up the ball and run with it, fumbles badly long before it makes it out of home territory.
The premise of the film is daring, ingenious and courageous: an archaeologist, a young Jewish woman named Sharon Golban, has uncovered what could well turn out to be the find to end all finds - the body of a crucified man laid in a rich man's tomb, in other words, the possibly unresurrected body of Jesus Christ. The implications of this discovery - for history, for religion, for the world as a whole - would, of course, be overwhelming and mind-boggling. However, a theme of such shattering monumental proportions cries out for a filmmaker of commensurate stature to cope with the many moral complexities that such a premise lends itself to. Unfortunately, writer/director Jonas McCord is not that filmmaker. I haven't read the novel (written by Richard Ben Sapir) upon which the film is based, but I can attest to the fact that, after an intriguing beginning, "The Body" falls far short of its very real promise. In many ways, the film is a maddening tease, promising to be a morally and intellectually challenging experience, yet in the end leaving us feeling empty, compromised and cheated.
So where exactly does the film go wrong? For one thing the scope of the film is simply too small. A story of this size needs to be dealt with on a more global scale. The implications of such a discovery would most likely turn the world as we know it upside down and, thus, we yearn for a treatment that would be commensurate with that possibility. Somehow, the characters that have been chosen to act out the drama fail to fire up our imaginations. Sharon, the archaeologist, is aided in her research by a hunky Central American Jesuit priest named Father Gutierrez (Antonio Banderas) whom the Vatican has chosen (for truly obscure reasons) to essentially debunk the finding. (As in virtually every film in which they appear, the Catholic hierarchy is portrayed as an assortment of nefarious, two-faced, worldly villains whose only goal is to maintain their power at any and all costs). The injection of Father Gutierrez into Sharon's world leads to a few insightful clashes between science on the one hand and faith on the other - as well as a lot of predictable romantic palaver between the two principals. The movie does address the issue of whether or not a person's faith in God (or Christianity in general) would somehow be annihilated if the resurrection could be proved a falsehood. Derek Jacoby, as a dedicated archaeologist/priest, answers that question one way, while Father Gutierrez answers it another. The film also makes an effort to explore the psyche of the dedicated archaeologist who puts all her faith in reason and has none left over for God. She also realizes that she has the power to thrust the world into a spiritual turmoil the likes of which it has never seen before - and she begins to question whether even her own dedication to truth and science can justify such an act.
At such times, the film has a certain ring of truth about it. But, perhaps through fear of stepping on too many toes or seeing too many picketers outside the theatres, McCord keeps cutting away from the central story to feature a truly ludicrous and uninteresting subplot about a group of Palestinian terrorists who are attempting to "kidnap" the remains so they can be used as the ultimate bargaining chip should the Catholic Church decide to support Israel in keeping Jerusalem out of Palestinian hands. (McCord seems less concerned about Palestinian protestors than Christian ones). Thus, at crucial moments when the film seems finally to be engaging its complex theme, we are deflected into the mundane world of action cinema filled with such staples as car chases, shoot outs, slow motion explosions etc. This is an insult both to the profundity of the story and the sensibilities of the audience.
So will "The Body" ultimately offend its most devout viewers, those who may find that even suggesting such a possibility as the film posits qualifies as blasphemy of the highest order? I really can't speak for them. All I know is that, as a spiritually dispassionate moviegoer who appreciates a provocative theme when it comes along, "The Body," thanks to its overall muffing of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity - for what filmmaker is ever going to want to tackle this subject again? - offends me for a great many other reasons.
Movie Review: Great ideas, decent acting, lousy execution
Summary: 2 Stars
The premise is fascinating. What if the body of Jesus were discovered? Of course, the discovery would call into question the resurrection, a key element of Christian (and particularly Catholic) dogma. The questions it would raise are many. How would the Catholic church react to the discovery? How might an individual believer react? Perhaps as importantly, how might outsiders treat this discovery if one of the consequences might be the unhinging of the entire Catholic Church? Certainly, some would invite that result (couldn't you see Osama licking his lips at the thought?); others, seeing the Church as a principal player in the battle with Islam, might think otherwise.So where does The Body go wrong? The answer, unfortunately, is "let me count the ways." What is right about the movie is the casting. Banderas is his usual compelling, understated presence as a good-hearted priest weighed down by a troubled past. He is just the kind of character actor for a role like this, as he navigates the terrain between his own beliefs and the Vatican. Olivia Williams, as an Israeli archaeologist behind the discovery, was also a terrific choice for her role. She is attractive enough to create the possibility of sparks to develop with Banderas' character. (Unfortunately, one of the real problems with this movie is its inability to develop these interpersonal issues with any degree of depth or drama. I suspect it was the directing, but it also might have been a lack of chemistry between Banderas and Williams. A wonderful backdrop to the plot would have been a well-executed demonstration of all the personal dominoes that might begin to fall as a priest's faith is shaken. Unfortunately, we don't really get to see that in Banderas' character, even though Banderas has shown us glimmers of such potential in other roles.) And what happened to Derek Jacobi? Frankly, I expected a deep penetrating performance, even with the thinly written--and somewhat silly--affectations given to his character.
The worst thing about The Body, aside from its inability to rise to the challenges of its story, is the mediocre directing. You can see it, in part, in the actors' performances, as I noted above. But it is also present in the sloppy and confusing images, including a particularly inept sequence when Jacobi's character finally gives up hope that the body is someone other than Jesus. One might, to be generous, suggest that this sequence has a dreamy, hallucinogenic quality to it. To me, it just sucks.
And then there's the torrent of cliches--the utra-orthodox Jews who let a priest instruct them on the Torah; the slimy Vatican types who are more interested in running the Church as a bank, than expressing any real religious belief; the terrorist bent on using the body as a bargaining chip; and, finally, the tacky disclosure to the audience of the Truth.
I'd love to have Hollywood try its hand at this movie again, with a much better script and a seasoned director of serious movies. Or maybe not.