with Antonio Banderas, Olivia Williams, Derek Jacobi, Jason Flemyng, John Wood, John Shrapnel, Muhamed Bakri, Makram J Khoury, Sami Samir, Ian McNeice, Vernon Dobtcheff, Jordan Licht
release US 30.Apr.01; UK 9.Nov.01
Helkon 01/Israel 1h44
Writer-director McCord puts it together efficiently, filming on location and drawing in all the story threads. But for such serious material, he shows a lack of real ambition, letting it dissolve into a run-of-the mill thriller that's rather low on actual thrills. It looks and feels like a TV movie with its low-key action, heightened tension, corny music, vague supporting characters and lots of gurgling subplots. As the evidence piles up that the find might be authentic, Banderas is quite good as the priest coming to terms with what might undermine his entire life. And Williams gives a nicely off-handed turn as the sceptic who becomes his unlikely cohort. But the film is increasingly talky as everyone agonises and analyses the central premise to death, even though it's not nearly as deep as it sounds. With all the running around, there's never any time for anyone to actually deal with the implications.
| themes, violence, music |
| 18.Oct.01 |
"I thought the film was actually quite good with strong acting and realistic settings. The actual concept is brilliant. The film challenges a person's faith in regard to their religion and momentarily shatters any belief in the church while revealing itself as a more sinister force than good. This is quite a serious film and not recomended for the younger viewers, however the producer has attempted to ease its almost documentary styled format, which I found ideal for the realistic story, by including a relationship for Banderas and a dramatic shoot 'em up ending. For those interested in supernatural, cult or religious based movies like Stigmata, this should hold their attention throughout. This isn't as clever and twisted as Usual Suspect, but certainly should be given credit. 7/10" --Blake, Kent 7.Dec.01