In response to a Christian who won't see the film.

Rating: 10/10 (3 February 2006)

This is a copy of a post I just entered on a thread about this film on the main boards. It's in response to a Christian fellow who wrote that he would not see the film because it depicts homosexual sex scenes and homosexuality is a sin. I posted a reply because I hope all people, especially my Christian sisters and brothers, see this film, which made me feel so aware of the presence of God in the lives of all of broken humanity.
Everything seems to be woven together perfectly in this masterpiece of directing, screen writing, cinematography, music, acting and, of course, the story itself which is one that any human being with any heart, compassion and experience in love and loss should be able to relate to deeply.
I'm a devoted film enthusiast who's seen over 6000 films in almost five decades and this film is the first one to move me to write on these boards since the fabulous "Dancer Upstairs". I've seen it four times and will see it many more. The first time I saw it in Vancouver was on opening night in an old theatre downtown. I figure I was one of thirty heterosexual men, forty women and 900 gay men in the audience. Turned out that was all right. Hasn't made me want to have sex with a man. Has certainly made me feel deeply about being a man, a human, a person with a heart, a soul, and the wisdom I've gained from my own experience with love and loss.
This is a beautiful film in every respect. To our Christian friend who started this thread, I'll say this: I saw Jesus everywhere in this film. The Jesus who didn't sit down and talk about the fine points of the law in the temple with the Pharisees and scribes, because there is no such Jesus. I mean the Jesus who embodies love: active, exuberant, irrepressible, abiding, profound, ridiculously extravagant, timeless love. The compassionate Jesus who scandalously spent time with the tax collectors and prostitutes and downtrodden and centurion and loved them all, yes, even those Pharisees and scribes whom he so pitied and whom he tried to instruct with his witty admonitions. This is the Jesus I saw in Jack and Ennis, and in Lureen and Alma, and in Alma Jr. and Cassie and especially in Jack's mother who responds to her husband's bitter, vicious attack on Ennis with an immensely moving compassion that reminds me of the salt of the earth people where I was raised in rural Illinois long ago.
I hope that everyone with a heart, with compassion for others, sees this film and experiences the profound confirmation it gives to what is most important about being human -- the fact that we are blessed with the ability to taste of the very nature of God Himself, which is love. For as John writes in his first letter, the most important sentence among the hundreds of books I've read: God is Love.
And perfect love casts out all fear. Don't be afraid to see this film. Everything good comes from God. This film is truly a gift to the heart.