The Second Coming

I rented the dvd (appropriately enough) over the Easter weekend and it made for a very interesting diversion from the usual sappy, soppy, silly "resurrection" of religious movies we get bombarded with at this time of year. The acting was very good and the premise even better. Episode one was excellent and I wondered how the director was going to bring this to a resolution in episode two. Well, I loved the ending but I am, like other viewers, foxed as to how it came about. The peculiar logic of the film was compromised by a sudden revelation I'm not convinced the character would have(or could have) had. Nevertheless, I recommend this to anyone who has had their fill of the Mel Gibson/right wing/heaven- forbid-we-have-an-original-thought treatments of spiritual subjects.

I saw "The Second Coming" during a business trip to the UK. It was a two part miniseries. I liked the first episode so much I held my trip over a couple of days in order to see the conclusion. I happen to like the Christopher Eccleston, the actor who plays the second coming of the savior from Manchester. He is always great to watch (see "Let Him Have It"; "Shallow Grave", and "28 Days Later") Its too bad he hasn't gotten more recognition in the US. The notion of a nobody slacker being thrust into the center of such a controversy was handled without cliche. I especially loved the resolution in the ending. I highly reccomend it.

Apparently the son of god has returned for a second coming. First, will anyone believe him, including the person he is returning in? A couple of miracles later, and people are starting to take him seriously, but he has a message for the world. A few days to write the Third Testament, or its all over.

I thought it was a very interesting drama, that kept me hooked to the end. Some interesting issues approached, and taken on in a new way. Nearly two years on, and still some of the details are quite memorable. The conclusion is quite powerful, but probably not what anyone was expecting, which I think is also good in a drama.

It obviously has religious overtones, and depending where you are on the scale it may or may not fit with your views. However its written as drama, and it keeps the attention focused to the end.

Well worth a watch.

I had seen this on television ~ ABC probably, but at a friend's house, at the time of release. We talked about that time a few years ago and I was saying remember that Dr Who episode ?..." I've never seen Dr Who." My pal replied and this set of a chain reaction of thinking about it further and consulting IMDb. I'd got it wrong, but thematically right. I realised that I'd only seen episode one and had subsequently devoted myself to the new Dr Who along with great fondness for Christopher Eccleston in his role in 'Cracker' back in the 90s. Add to the mix, the Russell T Davies connection and the crossed wire was well sorted! I found the DVD version in my local library and decided to revisit the experience, solo. Ah ~ the Eureka moment, I'd never seen the ending.

All the performances shine and the writing is fantastic. Lesley Sharp amazes and delights as the voice and face of reason ~ the woman who has to make the toughest decision and live with it. She is the one can see down the road ahead and has a handle on the concept of consequences. It is a post 9/11 piece as well, so that places it in great context also. So much international frenzy and fear that still sits in every airport to this day. The Second Coming ~ the title also a famous poem by Yeats ("And what rough beast, ... Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born? "), stirs the pot something delicious. What do people really believe ? How do they react in a crisis ? What/Who matters most if you think there are only 5 days left ? The fact that it all takes place in Manchester, England, England, makes it all the more potent and powerful.

I have to say that I found this TV drama to be enormously good - such an original, inventive screenplay. I began watching with my finger poised about the channel-change button, half expecting something very conventional - the jesus wannabe is a looney (but there there is some (un)subtle suggestion toward the end that he might be a little more than that) - or or a final sequence in which jesus karate-chops demons and departs, granting us another two thousand years, but pleading that we try harder at being good. Instead something entirely unexpected - and challenging - is served up. So good to see that some people who write TV screenplays are not only thinking, but want to make us think too. It's also marvellously well acted.