Style won out over substance this weekend as two pieces of eye candy pulled in huge audiences. Both the nineteenth James Bond film, The World Is Not Enough, and Tim Burton's headless horseman tale, Sleepy Hollow, were praised for their atmosphere and beauty while being trashed for their thin characterizations. Yet they each captured more than $30 million, marking the first time two movies have surpassed that mark on the same weekend.
The World Is Not Enough ($37.2 million)
James Bond movies have a history of being overblown spectacles with little depth, so the producers behind the series brought in a respected director (Michael Apted, Nell and Gorillas in the Mist) to spruce up the joint. The result? A hugely popular film (it made $11 million more than any previous Bond opening) that's still an overblown spectacle with little depth. The U.S. Catholic Conference writes that the "fast and furious action eventually wears itself out in an overlong and overly elaborate plot," and MovieGuide concurs that "only about half of the movie's action sequences provide the kind of fun thrills audiences expect." (Mainstream critic Jay Carr of The Boston Globe simply deadpanned, "The script is not enough.") And of course 007's promiscuity took a hit from reviewers, including Preview's Chris McNeely, who said the spy's glorified playboy lifestyle tarnishes the movie.
Sleepy Hollow ($30.5 million)
Like the 007 adventure, Tim Burton's adaptation of Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a visually stunning and violent tale that's meant to be taken in fun. Jeffrey Overstreet of Green Lake Reflections sees the film as an elaborate form of play: "It's pure and forgive me brainless fun. We don't get mad at kids for playing with their toys; in fact, sometimes we join them." But for others, the explicit beheadings and themes of sorcery were too disturbing to allow enjoyment. Paul Bicking of Preview says "decapitations are frequent and graphic as viewers see heads fly off necks and roll on the ground. More disturbing is the prevalence given to witchcraft." Several mainstream critics found the film formulaic and empty "both sleepy and hollow," according to The Washington Post's Desson Howe. Taking a different approach was Doug Cummings of Movie & Ministry, who moved beyond a personal reaction to the movie and searched for what the movie's popularity says about society. Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp), who in this version is a frightened constable from New York sent to investigate the murders, is a man of science and reason who suppresses a belief in the supernatural. Crane's gradual movement away from rationality mirrors such a shift in our country, Cummings says: "Increasingly, our culture expresses its disillusionment with the promises of the Enlightenment, and seeks its understanding of reality through the heart rather than the head. The church would do well to hear our culture's yearning for a mysterious, supernatural God who often transcends our rational containers."
Scientists have finally discovered the one Pokémon tie-in that kids tire of quickly: the movie. (Business dropped a staggering 57 percent this weekend.) Christian reviews were all negative, several focusing on the potential harm of Pokémon. Focus on the Family's Loren Eaton says "kids could easily misconstrue that one's inherent worth is determined by what he does, " and MovieGuide warns of the Pokémon "role-playing trading cards with their themes of special powers and even occult psychic abilities." Likewise, World called it "pseudo-pacifistic mush with hypocritical preachy messages that fighting is wrong and that a human sacrificing himself for Pokémon is noble." Meanwhile, Michael Elliott of Movie Parables uses the opportunity to sharpen his wit: "It is up to Ash, Pikachu, Snort, Snideparka, Snuggles, and Draggy the Flying Lizard to save the world. (All right, I may have made up a few of those names.)"
The Bone Collector ($6.5 million)
"Abominable, utterly stupid a travesty of storytelling." So says J. Robert Parks, of The Phantom Tollbooth in the first Christian review that attacks the entertainment value of The Bone Collector. He's in polar opposition to Christian Spotlight guest critic Gabe Rodriguez, who calls it "one of the most original, cunning thrillers in years."
Dogma ($4.1 million)
After an unusually strong opening last week, Dogma settled down to a more typical weekend crowd for an independent film. (You can almost see the film's marketing team scramble to attract the Sleepy Hollow crowd: "If you haven't seen enough decapitations yet, we've got one!") Last week's big bite out of the box office led to some fresh protests and denunciations from the Christian community. The American Family Association said the film "proves that Disney does not take the cherished beliefs of Christians seriously, and that Hollywood enjoys nothing more than mocking Christianity." Focus on the Family's Steven Isaac likewise sees no value in the film: "If Kevin Smith hopes to provoke religious discussion he's sadly misguided. Families don't need the kind of 'discussions' likely to be prompted by Dogma." Other critics are willing to take Smith seriously and consider his questions. Michael Elliott of Movie Parables says the film asks us "to take a hard look at our religious institutions and check on whether we can still see God there. If this is considered to be threatening to those institutions, perhaps an introspective look is long overdue." Hollywood Jesus agrees, saying the movie "dares to explore and question the Christian faith without restraints of any kind. Martin Luther would be proud." Perspectives often boiled down to this basic difference: Some critics were happy to wrestle with questions the film proposes, and others were worried how audiences would cope without doctrinal answers to those questions. (To find out which category I fit into, click here for my ChristianityToday.com Dogma review.)
Article continues below
Rounding Out the Top Ten
Anywhere But Here dropped a notch to number six this week, apparently below the radar of most Christian critics. To see the few available reviews, click here for last week's article. The story of a flighty mother and confused daughter who move suddenly from Wisconsin to Beverly Hills, Anywhere But Here has received praise for helping to teach important lessons about family life. But whether it's by positive or negative example is under debate.The Insider continued to draw audiences through strong word-of-mouth recommendation. Based on a real-life battle that a 60 Minutes producer and a whistle-blowing scientist fought against tobacco companies and CBS to get their story out, this film has drawn praise within Christian circles for upholding integrity, truth, and selflessness while never ignoring the human toll on those involved in complex ethical issues. See our previous coverage here.Plummeting into eighth place is The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, which continues to be ignored by moviegoers and excoriated by critics. But that didn't stop more Christian reviewers from tackling the weighty issues in the film this week. At the heart of the reviews is the question of who Joan really was. "I just wasted six months of my life waiting to see a lie," writes Christian Spotlight guest reviewer Maggi (no last name available). "She is portrayed as a psychotic nut case, instead of the young woman of God that she was." But Michael Elliott of Movie Parables isn't so sure; he postulates that she might have been a false prophet. "Joan's end (being burned at the stake at the age of 19), the frenzy and blood lust her inspiration wrought, and the death, pain, or suffering which followed her campaign all point to a devilish influence rather than a godly one." The question of whom Joan served is less clear-cut for Peter T. Chattaway of ChristianityToday.com: "Evangelicals needn't accept Joan's belief in her voices at face value; for one thing, there is precious little of the gospel in what they had to say, and much of earthly politics. [But] before we can discern the spirits that guided Joan, we need to grapple with her testimony and, in some sense, be faithful to it. Besson does not do this." Chattaway points to several key moments in the film that were completely fabricated and informs the reader of what we know differently from the historical record. (For example, the voices Joan claimed to hear were those of Catholic saints Margaret, Catherine, and Michael, not a robed boy or a bearded man resembling Jesus as seen in the film.) Chattaway says Besson's film is no basis for judging Joan, one way or the other. For more opinions on this film, see last week's article here.The wait for a good review of The Bachelor continues. See earlier opinions of the miserable ninth-pace finisher here.Being John Malkovich expanded into more theaters this week and capitalized on good reviews to creep into the top ten. The film follows a puppeteer (John Cusack) who discovers a portal into the brain of John Malkovich and starts charging people $200 to control the notoriously quirky actor for 15 minutes at a time. Christian critics have found the surreal comedy fascinating, to varying degrees. It seems to be a cinematic inkblot test of sorts, judging by the disparate topics each reviewer identifies as the film's theme: playing God, seeking identity, sexual politics, American emptiness. Check out the variety of opinions in our earlier coverage here.
Article continues below
Steve Lansingh is editor of thefilmforum.com, a weekly Internet magazine devoted to Christianity and the cinema.
While we pray for peace, we need moral clarity about this war.
As my doubts about his teachings grew, so did a secret fascination with Jesus.
But experts say it can offer opportunities for leaders and congregations to grow.
