Salvation Boulevard

For one time that an American movie shows a bit of originality, it's finally destroyed by an awful production !

First, it's a acid comedy about faith which is always helpful for the audience instead to be brainwashed by silly blockbusters. In addition, for a french guy like me, it's a real opportunity as french producers just don't wan't to do movies about this kind of movies ! Next, all the characters are finely fleshed and the casting has found some great names to play them : Jennifer, cool and cunning James Bond n°5, grumpy Ed Harris and other known faces… Next, the thematic and its players are synthesized into a crazy story, full of surprises and funny twists !

Unfortunately, all this is lost in the production ! Like most American movies since 2010, this one abuses the famous ugly Blue / Orange color scheme ! The cinematography relies on those two disgusting choices and the props and wardrobes used them too. So we are left with a smurfs movie or too much tanned people living in a blue / orange world ! It's everywhere, every time for everything or everyone and the pleasure a good « Technicolor » movie is gone ! Thus, it's a pity that such bad taste is left unnoticed as it's become an anti-watching tool that kills too many good movies !

Film should've been better. Kinnear somewhat underplays a space case who somehow agrees to take the fall for an attempted murder that Brosnan's character commits, and then comes to has second thoughts about. Brosnan overplays the petulant and self righteous pastor. Both actors are two i've long thought of as nicely underrated actors in general--the chemistry between the two of them was so nice in 2005's "The Matador" that i was more than a little disappointed that the two of them spend the large majority of this film in their own separate plot lines and only have a limited amount of screen time together here. What you have here is a halfway decent set-up for some halfway decently thought up characters whom are all wasted in a messy barrage of scenes where one thing happens, then another, and then a third thing happens, but none of what happens means anything to any of the characters, and with the exception of maybe the increasingly anxious Kinnear--none of what is happening seems to mean anything to the actors playing them as well. This plot line and these characters probably made a lot more sense in the novel that this is based on...and i can see there is a solid raucous sense of humor going on in some scenes where the mechanics of the plot aren't in the way--like say Kinnear's handful of scenes with Marisa Tomei who's a spacey female interested in him.

Whenever i read something that i think would make a good movie i forget to take into account that when you're retelling someone else's story as a film you can't take into account the motives and inner thoughts of all the characters in a story. Despite some attempts made the film largely doesn't tell you what the characters are thinking while their reacting. (Pierce Brosnan's character for example has a moment in the shower where his phone rings and the caller reads unknown-and he shudders and groans clearly unhappy about getting this call-but why? what does he think this call is? how could he possibly know what's happening? half the time i was watching him i was wondering just what his motivation was other then staying out of jail--why does he care about Greg Kinnear even after he framed him for murder? why does he care about Ed Harris even after he shot him? why is he doing anything at all here?) How exactly does Marisa Tomei's character fit into the film again? what was her connection with the murder plot exactly? how did she know that kinnear was really innocent even before he told her? What she just knew because of his character? Why does Jennifer Connelly (who plays Kinnear's born again wife and is completely unimportant to the plot as a whole) insist on maintaining a relation with Kinnear despite the fact that its clear that the two of them are completely wrong for each other (come to think of it why was he with her in the first place--i get that she saw him as a project to work on--but why did he bother getting himself cleaned up and seeking religion with her when he was clearly so much happier as a dead-head and she was so clearly in love with Brosnan's pastor character? why am i even asking this when again she clearly doesn't matter to the story.) This movie does not work as a whole and its a shame because they clearly had something almost good here. This is exactly why you need to have characters a viewer should care about in addition to decently done chase scenes and somewhat amusing characters in somewhat amusing circumstances.

Carl Vanderveer (Greg Kinnear) used to be a Deadhead, and now is a follower of a charismatic church leader Dan Day (Pierce Brosnan). After a debate with atheist Peter Blaylock (Ed Harris), he invites Dan and Carl back home to pitch his idea of joining up to co-author a book. However, Dan accidentally shoots Peter and tries to frame it as a suicide. Then Dan tries to frame Carl as the shooter.

This is a black comedy without the comedy. Greg Kinnear may not be a good comedic lead if George Ratliff is aiming for funny. He is constantly taking shots at fundamental Christians, but it never really sticks. As a satire, this is a struggle to find any humor. Everybody is trying desperately to be outrageous especially Jennifer Connelly, but they do it without a clue of how to make it funny.

I gotta hand it to writer/director George Ratliff for being so bold. I'm not just talking about offending audiences. I'm saying if God does exist, then there's certainly a hot seat in store for Georgie Boy.

Actually I'm kidding. "Salvation Boulevard", while being unapologetically one-sided, isn't so offensive that religious folks can't laugh about it. I'd like to think it pokes fun at the hypocrisy of certain religious leaders, not religion itself.

But what do I know. I'm pacifist and yet I enjoyed Deathwish 1 thru 5.

Right off the bat, "Salvation Boulevard" gets points for its wacky, original plot. A celebrity televangelist, played by Pierce Brosnan, and a recently-converted (but thoroughly confused) ex-Deadhead, played by Greg Kinnear, get wrapped up in an unintentional crime against an atheist (Ed Norton). Due to a series of panicked, bad decisions, it just keeps getting deeper & deeper for both of them. Our hero, the Deadhead, is sort of an Everyman character who muddles his way through the madness without ever seeming to comprehend what's going on. Conversely, Brosnan the televangelist thinks he's in control, but his situation (and his moral fiber) rapidly unwind as he starts suffering from delusions that the Devil is hot on his trail.

Adding to the fun are some equally wacky characters: Marisa Tomei as the flaky retro-hippie girl, Jennifer Connelly as the insanely obsessed follower, Jim Gaffigan as the even-MORE-insanely obsessed follower (I'm talking "Terminator" obsessed), Yul Vazquez as the comically sinister Mexican crime boss, and a host of others thrown in.

"Salvation Boulevard" is a roller-coaster dark comedy that reminds me of the unknown gems "Grand Theft Parsons" (about 2 guys who decide to steal the body of famed musician Gram Parsons) and "Leaves of Grass" (about a hillbilly and his yuppie brother who get wrapped up in a crazy drug caper). And of course there's the classic oldie "Fletch Lives" (where Chevy Chase takes on a questionable TV ministry). All of these films are worth a watch and should get some lols out of everyone.

I grew up Southern Baptist and I thought this movie was laugh out loud funny. Of course, there was some predictable religious jokes. Lots of confusion & communication-based chaos with a karma-tic ending (though a bit trite). Actually saw this movie September 2010 at a early release film screening where we were able to review the film afterward. I hope they re-shot the ending, as the conclusion was a bit abrupt. Overall, it was a great laugh. Pierce Brosnan is EXCELLENT as Rev. Dan Day. Stand out performances by Greg Kinnear and Marisa Tomei as well. Not sure if this film will be a small release, but it's worth finding to see.