What I mean by the title is that people with absolutely no belief or knowledge about Jesus might actually like this simple little film. Devout Christians will be horrified by it.
The idea of making a film about the devil tempting Christ in desert is actually an intriguing one. In the scriptures, the devil tempts Jesus three ways: (1) with food after his 40 days of fasting (2) to leap off the temple of Jerusalem and use his powers to survive, and (3) granting of lordship over all the kingdoms in the world in exchange for worship of Satan. If that sounds mildly interesting, know that NONE of that is in the film. Instead the devil is some kind of smart-ass that follows Jesus around and makes rude comments.
And Jesus himself is just... off. McGregor plays Jesus much like he played a Jedi Knight in Star Wars. Cool, but a Jedi is not the same thing as Jesus. Even then, that might have worked, if the film had stuck to just Jesus in the desert, and all the interesting landscapes (the cinematography of these landscapes being the absolute highlight of the film), but they had to insert a random family into the mix, and have a melodrama play out in a transparent effort to 'create a plot.' In these pedantic interactions with the family, one loses even the faint thread of belief in McGregor's performance.
Maybe someday we will see a proper film on this story, the real biblical one, as it could be interesting, particularly if done with the style and cinematography that were on display here.
The idea of making a film about the devil tempting Christ in desert is actually an intriguing one. In the scriptures, the devil tempts Jesus three ways: (1) with food after his 40 days of fasting (2) to leap off the temple of Jerusalem and use his powers to survive, and (3) granting of lordship over all the kingdoms in the world in exchange for worship of Satan. If that sounds mildly interesting, know that NONE of that is in the film. Instead the devil is some kind of smart-ass that follows Jesus around and makes rude comments.
And Jesus himself is just... off. McGregor plays Jesus much like he played a Jedi Knight in Star Wars. Cool, but a Jedi is not the same thing as Jesus. Even then, that might have worked, if the film had stuck to just Jesus in the desert, and all the interesting landscapes (the cinematography of these landscapes being the absolute highlight of the film), but they had to insert a random family into the mix, and have a melodrama play out in a transparent effort to 'create a plot.' In these pedantic interactions with the family, one loses even the faint thread of belief in McGregor's performance.
Maybe someday we will see a proper film on this story, the real biblical one, as it could be interesting, particularly if done with the style and cinematography that were on display here.