Beating around the ol' proverbial bush

Rating: 7/10 (6 June 2006)

Well, I finally went and watched this film just to see what all the fuss was about in the media. As a Christian, I figured that this must be some mind-blowing doctrinal thing, but it turned out that it was just something that the Mormon doctrine has been saying for years ... that Christ was married and had offspring. If this movie wins any big awards, it will have to be for the controversy it stirred up, much like "Brokeback Mountain" did last year, and not because of the film's concept. Overall though, I enjoyed the film as it made for a good story. It seemed that it took them forever to just get to the point in some places, but the action scenes were put in at just the right times to keep you interested in the film. I hadn't read the book, but it was pretty easy to figure out that Ian McKellan's character was The Teacher and that Sophie was supposed to be offspring of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. I assumed this halfway through the film, but I sat there for the last hour anyway. Ron Howard pulled off a good show despite what critics with their personal religious agendas may be saying. But I was a little disappointed with Tom Hanks' performance. Tom is such a great actor and one of my all-time favorites. But in this film, he seemed a little wooden in areas. Certainly not "Forrest Gump" or "Saving Private Ryan" material. When he was in the museum, it seemed that, at some points, he was simply reading off of the cue cards with very little emotion. But to take back an earlier point I made, I think that this film is worthy of one Oscar nod, and that would be the nominating of Ian McKellan for Best Supporting Actor. He is always entertaining, and he fit his role in this film very well. He was the bright spot of the film and did not disappoint.