steve-3873

Sometimes I think that people who review movies for a living forget that they are just movies. The stories don't have to conform to one's reality, a suspension of belief is the first requirement for any movie. The only criteria should be was I entertained and unless you trend toward the anal, this is an entertaining movie.

I don't know what was wrong with the cut of this movie that they reviewed but it wasn't the one I watched. It wasn't an Oscar contender but it's good solid entertainment. Maybe the problem that the critics had was that you have to pay attention and they were too busy writing to actually watch the movie?

This was almost a good movie. It started out as a very honest portrayal of the hucksterism and con jobs that all religion relies on, only to fall victim to schmalz and a fairy tale ending that destroyed all of the footwork leading up to it. This could have been an important movie on par with "Elmer Gantry" if the writers and director had just resisted the urge to sabotage their own work. Steve Martin played the huckster role with genius and Debra Winger appears in far too few movies, but in reality, hucksters of this caliber never reform, if that's the right word, until scandal brings them down, and people DO get disgusted with fleecing the innocent withOUT having to believe in mythical beings. Too bad.This movie could have had some meaning if they had just stuck to real world.