Created by such ardent
true believers that the story is identified onscreen as “the public life of
Jesus, a documentary taken entirely from The Gospel of Luke,” this routine
drama is hard to criticize because its intentions are so plain. A no-nonsense
recitation of the Messiah’s time on Earth, Jesus
features generic actors and mid-level production values but not a whit of
artistry. Melodic-voiced narrator Alexander Scourby (speaking as Luke) provides
informational nuggets that connect blandly staged scenes featuring Christ’s
rise to prominence, his performance of miracles, his preaching of the gospels,
and, of course, his crucifixion and resurrection. Eschewing the grandiosity of
most Hollywood movies about this subject matter, and existing a universe away
from the gory extremes of Mel Gibson’s euphoric visions, Jesus presents Biblical episodes as matters of fact, so actors
never get particularly excited and the camerawork feels clinical. The lack of
melodrama should be a relief, but the flick is so enervated that a little
flamboyance every now and then might have been welcome—this is less The Passion of the Christ and more The Politeness of the Christ. Playing
the Son of Man, workaday British actor Brian Deacon displays a lovely speaking
voice and a reassuring physical presence, but he’s so subordinate to the role
that it’s difficult to remember anything specific about him even moments after
the movie concludes. In fact, the whole cast is filled with anonymous players,
some of whom wear robes that seem to have come straight from the
drycleaners—although the picture has good-looking locations and plenty of
extras, there’s a veneer of “Hey, let’s put on a show” artificiality. All of
these gripes are moot, however, since viewers who are only marginally
interested in the story of Christ will probably never watch this movie, while
the faithful are likely to overlook narrative shortcomings given the picture’s
unabashed reverence.
Jesus:
FUNKY
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