Okay, I was ready for this movie to
suck. And don't get me wrong, it does. But its general suckiness
doesn't have to do with the performances or production values (which
I honestly did expect to suck) but from a plot that tries very hard to be
realistic when it isn't. Kind of like if the “Army of Darkness”
had been passed off as a historical drama......
So to be clear off the top, I think the
idea of the “Rapture” is almost off-the-charts crazy (as I do
with all “end of the world” doctrines). But according to the doctrine this film is based on, at some point
in the future, either just before the second coming of Christ or just
at the point of the birth of the Antichrist, all of the “saved”
will simply vanish from the Earth. Be “taken up into the air”, as
it were. I would be clearer on this but there seems to be no real
consensus amongst believers on when this will happen, only that it
will. After that, only the non-believers will be left on earth to
be sorted out by either God or Satan (or both).
So in an attempt to meld new testament
end-of-the-world doctrine to the modern disaster movie, “Left
Behind” tells the story of what could happen if the rapture
occurred today. Now I will admit that despite the critical trashing
that this movie received and the silliness of people vanishing into
thin air because they are the saved, I felt that this sounded
interesting enough to watch. And I watched the whole thing, so maybe
it was. But it probably wasn't.
Nicolas Cage is an airline pilot with
an extremely religious wife (played by Lea Thompson) and a beautiful
cynic daughter, Chloe (played by Cassie Thompson). Cage's character
Ray is about to fly to London, with his mistress-to-be stewardess
along for the ride. Also on the flight is Buck Williams (Chad
Michael Murray), an investigative reporter who Chloe has a romantic
interest in. When the rapture occurs (with a handful of people
vanishing on the plane) we get “Airport 1975” if it had been
written by Pat Robertson. The reactions of the plane occupants are
probably pretty realistic if this were ever to actually happen –
some are scared, some are angry and some are convinced there is a
conspiracy afoot. Nobody seems to think of the rapture, which I
thought was cute. Don't these people read?
Meanwhile back on the surface, the
saved have also vanished. Chloe's brother disappears during a hug –
her frantic searching for him in his backpack was pretty good, but
where else was she going to look? The rioting and looting starts
almost immediately (why not? Only the foul have been left behind,
right?). Chloe is convinced that everyone that means anything to her
is gone (mom and brother whisked away and Dad assuredly crashed on
his transatlantic flight) and she then of course considers suicide.
What else would a reasonable non-believer do, right? Did I overuse
the word silly already?
Now I am not going to rip this film for
its religious theme. Films with religious themes are often pretty
good (for example, I enjoyed this year's “God's Not Dead” despite
some heavy preachiness in it). I greatly look forward to Christian Bale as
Moses in the upcoming “Exodus”. But this one doesn't really try
to tell a story – it's a message. Get right with God or be left
behind. Those folks that were taken were so lily-white and pure,
they had it all together and were at peace with the world when they
were taken. On the other hand, those left behind were either foul
human beings or tortured, tormented people who just didn't have any
real direction in them. It's the condescension as much as anything
else that loses the message here. And a message movie that gives the
message ineffectively will suck. This one proves it.
I like Cage and can't imagine what he
was doing in this film. For the most part the special effects and
production values are acceptable, but it is a poor excuse for popular
entertainment. Had this been a “Living Waters” presentation I
would have gotten what I expected. But I expected a little more
movie and a little less preachy and I didn't get it.
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