Left Behind

As compared to other Christian films such as the disastrous Omega Code, this film is a solid, well-paced and enjoyable flick. One thing it has going for it is a VERY attractive cast (at least from a male perspective). I kind of fell in love with Janya Stephens as Chloe. She is sweet, charming and loveable. Her soft skin, warm smile, and big brown eyes kept me glued to the set.

Oh, and it had a darn fine message too.

Bringing to mind memories of watching Steven King's "The Langoliers" on tv around a decade or so ago, the crux of the movie's action is based on an event that we see occur in an airplane, which has also occured everywhere else around the world. Lots and lots of people vanish away, leaving a selected few behind (or is it the other way around as far as selection goes?). The filmmakers at least DID do something right by having the clothes remain when the people were taken (unlike "The Langoliers" ... where only metal objects like wristwatches and braces for teeth inexplicably stayed behind, but that's not enough to merit this film more than a half an extra star). Also, there was more blood than I expected considering the wholesome demographic I know the makers were aiming for, but that isn't really a positive or negative remark so much as a semi-interesting observation.

First off as far as my complaints go, this movie looks cheap. That isn't necesarily a bad thing; I know that great things can be done with a limited budget (my own favorite "Doctor Who" for one), but if they aren't done properly than the thing won't have a chance to even begin doing its job: that is, entertain. "Left Behind" fails at this; it looks amateurish, feels amateurish, and is therefore no fun to watch, like a bad TV movie (which is all it really is, in spite of its theatrical release).

Second, the acting is atrocious. I wasn't convinced by a single character (well, halfway by the Israeli scientist at the beginning, but I've got a fondness for those "elderly wiseman" types of characters), and therefore had no emotion or care invested into who they were or what happened to them. The dialogue they were forced to say was either unconvincingly phony or sitcom-stupid, or at best somewhere in between (say, bland).

Finally, there was the story, besides the characters themselves. Okay, my religious views just don't fall in line with those presented in this movie, so I suppose it is here fair to say that the problem is to a point on my end in this regard. But the thing is, I would have enjoyed seeing some other reactions to the supernatural occurances in the film besides those of complete unbelievers and evangelical Christians, such as Hindus, Muslims, or those of my own faith, Roman Catholics, as they attempted to deal with and understand the problem. Also, the fact stands that the prophesies of the Bible more than likely could have more than one interpretation, or could in fact prophesy events which occured in the future for the writer but in the past for us (The Book of Daniel predicting the coming of Alexander the Great, for example, or Revelation's Antichrist being none other than Nero Caesar). The writers limited their possibilities, and the narrow scope of the movie's story really works against it.

I will finish up by saying that "Left Behind" was a real waste of time for me, and I honestly wish I had now done something else with my free evening. Contrasting it with a really great movie like "The Ninth Gate" really worked against it too. Even if you are an evengelical Christian and buy into this whole Rapture thing, I still wouldn't give this piece of crud my time or money ... I'd just move along and do something, anything else.

Carry on Carry on,

MN