BIG CHICO'S MOVIE BLOG

As a man of faith, this is the easiest review I have ever had to write. This review is about The Book of Eli, one of the best faith based movies I have ever seen.  When I first saw the trailer for the movie what really drew me to it was Denzel Washington. I mean look at Washington’s body work: Man on Fire, Training Day, Malcolm X, and Philadelphia. It doesn’t get any better than this.

Any who, from first judgment it looked like a good movie with a great actor in a post apocalyptic action thriller. The one thing I hated about the trailer was the use of the bible. In most of these types of movies the bible is mocked or someone is carrying it around with some secret formula that can save the world; basically mocking the source of my faith, but in this movie the Bible was what it was supposed to be, The Word of God.

Then came the moment of truth, It was a Sunday. My wife and kids went out of town to visit her parents and I had decided to go to the movies. I had no real expectations one way or the other about the movie. I mean it’s a mid January release, how good could it be? I went to PDQ to get my snacks and preceded to the theater. After sneaking in my contra band Isettled into my seat.

From the first scene of the movie, I knew there was something different. There was no heart pounding music, the color of the movie was almost over exposed like when you take a picture with too much light in the back ground, and the writers didn’t waste words. The dialog in the movie flowed smoothly from one character to another even in the most dangerous action scenes. This is a rarity in movie now days that the dialog doesn’t take you into of the world the writers are trying to create. It seems now in every movie, characters have to have some long tirade in the movies that is supposed to be deep and inspiring. Too bad it usually turns out to be some lame PC point of view that no one cares about.

The movie stars Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, Jennifer Beals, and the underappreciated  Ray Stevenson. It’s this cast that made this movie work so well. Oldman as the villain was spectacular. As the dictator of a small town Oldmen doesn’t come off as a tyrannical beast who rules with an iron fist. His quite charm is so off putting you almost find yourself understanding his motivations in the movie. Beals plays Oldmens bind indentured servant and lover who does what she needs to protect her daughter Mila Kunis. Kunis has really come into her own lately and does a serviceable job as a girl trying to escape her situation. The most interesting character was that played by Ray Stevenson. He plays the body guard and advisor to Oldmen, but what sets him apart from everyone else is the emotion he emotes just underneath the surface. At first you think he’s just a trained thug, but then realize he’s a man in search of some normalcy in a world turned upside down by war. The best thing is that he does this all with his eyes and body language.

Now for what I thought was the greatest part of the movie: the message of faith. What is being advertised as an action movie is actually a movie of some Old Testament style faith. I mean the faith you reach down in your gut for when life just kicked you in the sack. So some of you don’t think I’m giving out spoilers I’m only mentioning things that were in the trailer. The book that they refer to is the King James Bible and it’s the last one on the planet. Eli (Washington) is carrying the Bible to some place that Lord Yahweh (God, God of Abraham, The almighty, Father of Jesus Christ) is leading him to where the book will be safe. It is revealed in the movie that Eli has been wondering around for 30 years protecting and reading the book. Can you imagine your whole life dedicated to protecting God’s word? How inspiring is that!? The action scenes in the movie are a far second to the message of faith that the Hughes brothers put into the movie. Even when Eli has to protect himself there is no malice to the other person. His only objective is to obey God’s word. Eli shows us that even as a man called by God to do his work, he can fail on many occasions. In the trailer when he fights in the bar you see it’s his will not the Lords that leads him to the bar, and in many other instances you see that he knows the word of God but forgets it’s meaning until it’s almost too late.

The movie is filled with little messages that any Christian worth his salt will pick up on. When this movie ended, and it was an outstanding ending, I found myself not thinking about the movie but how I can serve my Lord better. This film inspired me to help myself and others understand Gods word with more zeal. I know it’s just a movie but the message in the movie will move you to act on your faith. The Lord Jesus Christ said “with the faith of a mustard seed you can move a mountain”. This movie didn’t move a mountain but it will help some people find that mustard seed.

Here are some scriptures that will help you understand the Eli character:

2 Corinthians 5: 7-10

7We live by faith, not by sight. 8We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Acts 24:25

24However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.

1Peter 1: 3-7

3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

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