Gerbiamas_Ziurovas

Really enjoyed this move that tried to capture the idea and purpose of being a Christian. Not shallow nor dogmatic, as is common for this type of movies. This movie tries to explore not the religion itself, but the religious approach to the way of life and the benefits of it to your self awareness and psychological state of mind. I think everyone will find different meanings and ways to understand the meaning of it, but for me it was a perfect essence of what Christian way of life means to me. Showing life of Christ as very regular,very human - like, filled with doubts and uncertainties. And Joaquin Phoenix makes it absolutely fabulous to watch.

I watched this movie without knowing anything about it, picking it just because of my favorite actor on the poster. The opening scenes in this movie of friends having dinner were very enjoyable and promising, but sadly it got horribly worse from there. The script is very dull and too theatrical for a movie. I was also not impressed with kind of amature directing that made everything look/feel artificial. Most conversations end up with one character saying something and staring at the horizon and another walking away as if something dramatic of meaningful was said. Even when conversation takes place in a room, where there is no horizon and no reason or place to walk away. A use of red light in romantic scenes felt artificial because of trying to explain every time the "accidental" source of it (like neon commercials outside). These and other similar details left a feeling that you're watching a student made movie. This movie has everything to be great: good topic, wonderful cast, very well picked filming locations, superb musical score. But the script and directing make it a really really bad one.

A very enjoyable movie in deed. The pace and pulse of intensity is managed perfectly, so those 90 minutes passed very quickly. Filming locations, scene decoration and documentary style of filming seem a bit dull at first, but as the movie unfolds these are the things that help to capture the atmosphere. Cinematography is rather odd, with the camera tilted too much up so that the bottom of the frame seems cropped. I don't understand the purpose of this but I also began to like it by the end of the movie. Soundtrack puts some extra quality to the movie. Actually the one thing I missed was cameo of someone from Hiperbole -the scene in the restaurant was perfect for that :)