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Tuesday, March 30, 2021

MARY MAGDALENE (2018)

Hagiographic bio-pic (literally!), Garth Davis’s followup to LION/’16* is a passion project (literally!) on the final story arc of Jesus & the Apostles as seen from Mary Magdalene’s POV.  Earth-toned in look & attitude, the film passed this way but once, leaving little mark; unlike its lead character.  In this telling, an ultra-naturalistic style makes the usual gang of true believers look like a closed shop of Method Actors, whispering unintelligible verities to each other between stops for the occasional miracle on their way to Jerusalem and destiny.  The one perky member of the pack?  You guessed it: Judas the Outlier.  Joaquin Phoenix, alarmingly weathered at 44, limns the most exhausted Jesus yet seen on screen.  (At 51, H.B. Warner seems younger in C. B. DeMille’s KING OF KINGS/’27; while clever Martin Scorsese hired age-appropriate Willem Dafoe, 33 on the dot, for THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST/’88.)  Rooney Mara, as that sadder-but-wiser sidekick Apostle, the much disputed Mary M., brings an anachronistic kick and unyielding solemnity to every move & motive.  Maybe someone forgot to tell the cast that ‘gospel’ means ‘good news.’  (Just announced as Garth Davis’s next gig?  TRON 3 for Disney.  And that ain't no gospel.)

WATCH THIS, NOT THAT/LINK: Far more believable (and entertaining), Monty Python’s LIFE OF BRIAN/’79.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2018/05/life-of-brian-1979.html  OR: As mentioned above, Scorsese’s TEMPTATION (not seen here).

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY/LINK: *Will LION go down as the last mediocre film pushed into Academy Award contention by the bullying tactics of the unlamented Weinsteins?  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2017/04/lion-2016.html

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