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Thursday, July 30, 2020

THE BODY (2001)

Long in development, abandoned on release; perhaps for its purposefully controversial plotline: young, beautiful, widowed Israeli archeologist Olivia Williams finds a burial chamber at her ‘dig’ in the heart of Jerusalem with the remains of a crucified 2000-yr-old man. Guess who. (Hey, it ain’t Mel Brooks!) Well, maybe it is . . . maybe it isn’t. But a lot of important folk need to know. And that includes The Vatican, who send faith-driven, non-specialist priest Antonio Banderas to investigate. Political, religious, territorial and ethical warfare threaten to combust in already volatile territory. Not enough? Our pretty archeologist has a couple of kidnapable school kids. So what could go wrong? As a film, just about everything. Jonas McCord, who hasn’t had a released writing or directing credit since, flunks on suspense, sense & scenery (a triple-threat guy), while Banderas & Williams rate zero in personal chemistry. Suggested subtitle: Polite Priest and Agnostic Archeologist Meet The Body Of Christ. Apparently the studio was worried about giving offense to Jews, Christians, Palestinians, Politicians and The Vatican. If only.

WATCH THIS, NOT THAT: Five years on, Dan Brown’s THE DA VINCI CODE (not seen here) would be a smash in the genre.

LINK/READ ALL ABOUT IT: The political/religious/territorial ramifications of such a discovery are not so far-fetched. See this recent New Yorker article about Biblical relics of the ‘real’ King David. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/06/29/in-search-of-king-davids-lost-empire

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