Risen

Year: 2016
Genre: Historical Epic
Directed: Kevin Reynolds
Stars: Joseph Fiennes, Tom Felton, Peter Firth, Cliff Curtis, Maria Botto, Luis Allejo, Antonio Gil, Stewart Scudamore, Andy Gathergood, Stephen Hagan
Production: LD Entertainment

I must confess, I am not a big fan of religious movies. It is my belief that art, true art should challenge what we think we know about the world, not reinforce already held biases. When I see trailers for films that clearly cater to a fundamentalist worldview I start to shudder. Their intended goal is not to try to convince non-believers nor to make those who watch better people. They're there to give comfort in much the same way store brand peanut brittle does; it's sweet, it kind of reminds you of a simpler time and it's a product used to pry you of your money. So imagine my surprise that a movie of this stripe actually has artistic merit.

Oops...wrong movie!

Risen concerns the skepticism and eventual Christian conversion of Clavius (Fiennes) a Roman centurion serving the Empire in Judea. He's tasked by Pontius Pilate (Firth) to handle the recently crucified body of Yeshua the Nazarene (Curtis) aka Jesus. Three days later, the body disappears from the tomb and Clavius is tasked with hunting down the body before the people of Judea get wind of his foretold resurrection. Helping him with the case is Lucius (Felton) a fellow centurion and ambitious upstart.

The idea of making the story of Jesus's resurrection a detective story is a stroke of genius on the part of writers Paul Aiello and Kevin Reynolds, who also directed. It brings a new and exciting dynamic and coaxes a kind of suspense certainly not seen in other religiously themed movies. Added to bring a sense of prestige and uncommon acting prowess is Joseph Fiennes who keeps the detective story just this side of interesting. Not since The Story of Ruth (1960) has there been a biblical historical epic just this side of not-terrible. It almost makes me want to forgive the entire third act from occurring.

For my next trick, I'm going to sing "What if God was One
of Us" without laughing

Unfortunately the third act did occur and the movie suffered because of it. The film builds its themes on the balance beam between faith and doubt then completely disassembles it with certainty as soon as the Book of Luke takes over. From that point on, Clavius melds into the scenery, a former strong character turned fly on the wall for Jesus's greatest hits. There's a chase between the disciples and the non-believing centurions but it remains completely free of atmosphere and serves nothing to the plot, the themes or the characterization.

Many times, even after discovering Jesus alive (spoiler alert), Clavius expresses doubt. "If you have doubt after what you've seen, imagine the doubt of those who haven't" says Peter (Scudamore) seemingly aware of the gospel he's about to spread. Issue is Clavius has very little to doubt given the information presented. Clavius is downright robbed of a personal, hard-won epiphany because he was a witness to so much. In one of my favorite similarly themed films Song of Bernadette (1943), the movie opens with the quote "For those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe in God, no explanation is possible." Sanctimony aside, the quote exemplifies the value of faith. So what does it say when a Roman centurion is basically given the answers to life's biggest test?

I can't decide whether the answer is Alpha or Omega...

I grew up in a Catholic household and went through many a Sunday mass until I decided religion just wasn't for me. This movie certainly didn't convince me to fall back into the fold, but for a minute, it did convince me a movie of this ilk can be passable and even decent. There's decent cinematography, economical direction and some spirited acting on the part of Joseph Fiennes, Tom Felton and Peter Firth. Furthermore it attempted to challenge my view on Christianity in a way that wasn't condescending, mean-spirited or intelligence-insulting (cough cough God's Not Dead (2014)). For that reason Risen is art...not great...not good...just okay...art.

Final Grade: D