first, just a random comment on the spgoode's posts - to hang your hat on the condition of teeth is just moronic, and completely misses the point of the movie. go see the movie, and then let us know if all you take home from it is the status of dental hygiene in 33 a.d.
moreover - to my take on the movie. i saw the 'passion' movie wed. night and thought it was, in a word, intense. not enjoyable, but amazingly good and powerful....and just, quite simply, intense. yes, there were some artistic licenses taken by mel gibson, but by and large the account appears to be very accurate and detailed.
i've never heard a theater as quiet as after the movie ended - there wasn't a sound to be heard in the theater itself or in the exit corridors save for a few muted sobs. my g/f and i went to someone's house afterwards for a "dessert and debriefing" time of conversation and hardly said a word during that 10 minute drive. it's just something that has to soak in, i think....and it's an emotionally draining movie.
even as a long-time Christian, my view of the crucifixion has been a "fast forwarded", watered-down version, i think. the phrase "He died on the cross for us" doesn't even begin to touch on the intense suffering and agony that led up to the actual death itself...and during every one of those scourging lashes i was reminding myself that those were for *me*, that *my* sins were the reason for Him having to suffer like that. it's more than sobering....it's humbling, it's saddening, it's eye-opening. and it all leaves you quite speechless.
it's not a movie i would say you could "enjoy", and similarly it's hard to call it a "good" movie in the traditional sense of that adjective. it's well-done, it's powerful, it's moving....but it's not a feel-good movie, except in the sense that for the Christian who has faith in Christ and believes that his sins *were* paid for on that cross, there can be rejoicing in the grace God has shown us through it. i would think the movie would spur a need for repentance, which would *then* lead to joy....but the movie itself will leave you in tears, or at least stunned and speechless.
for nonbelievers, there will of course be different reactions than believers to the movie....and not everyone who sees it will be impacted the way i or many others have been. regardless of that, though, it amazes me that some people can't get past the appearance of someone's teeth in the movie. talk about not seeing the forest for the trees!
i'd highly recommend people go see it....it's certainly a perspective-changing movie and i'm glad to see it sparking the conversations that it has.
