From Deseret News archives:
'Gospel of John' is lifeless and flat — and long
At times "The Gospel of John" resembles a three-hour Bible lesson, or perhaps a three-hour, book-on-tape version of the Bible.
While that might be OK for some, it will probably be less satisfying for movie audiences who have come to expect something more from a feature-film experience, something more entertaining (think "The Ten Commandments").
Unfortunately, "entertaining" is not how you'd describe this international production, which comes from people working in British television. "The Gospel of John" is just what the title indicates — a word-for-word (from modern translations) account of some of Jesus Christ's life and teachings, from the perspective of his disciple John.
In particular, Jesus (Henry Ian Cusick) is shown meeting his disciples and as he begins to perform miracles — turning water into wine, feeding thousands with four loaves of bread and two fish, raising Lazarus from the dead, etc.
But Jesus' teachings offend the Pharisees; the Jewish leaders are not pleased with his preaching and performing miracles on the Sabbath. And on more than one occasion he also gets into trouble with the huddled masses. The film ends with Jesus' betrayal by one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot (Alan Van Sprang), and the crucifixion.
To their credit, director Philip Saville and his production designers have tried to make the film look as accurate as possible. Yet ultimately this is an unfulfilling film experience. The performances are flat and lifeless (Cusick may look the part, but he has no real charisma), and even Christopher Plummer, as narrator, is less than lively, reading in an all too reverent monotone, suggesting even he's having a hard time staying awake.
"The Gospel of John" is rated PG-13 for scenes of crucifixion violence (including a spearing), gore and a brief scene of torture (a whipping). Running time: 180 minutes.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com
