Movie Review: Eat Pray Love

Eat Pray Love should have been titled Eat Pray Be Selfish.

I don’t know why I wanted to see this movie; maybe because I knew it wouldn’t be the typical two-hour chase scene shoot-em up.  I thought it had a good chance of being a thoughtful movie.

I didn’t expect it to be  a two hour tribute to narcissism. Somehow I hoped there would be more depth to the movie than the worn-out vacuous search for self, wrapped up in an existential faux spirituality.

Julia Robert’s character, Liz, decides she’s not happy in her marriage. Her husband hasn’t been unfaithful and seems to love her. They don’t fight, and if he’s guilty of anything it’s that he doesn’t worship her. Continue reading “Movie Review: Eat Pray Love”

Top 10 Christmas Movies Of All Time

(c)iStockphoto.com/racnus

Last night I went to my first party of the holidays, this one for the employment law section of our local bar association. This was a signal to me it was time to publish my Top Ten list for Christmas movies. Here they are, but if you disagree or think I’ve left any out, feel free to weigh in with a comment:

1.    A Christmas Carol (1951)

Dickens was one of the greatest writers of all time, and in my book this is the best Christmas movie of all time.  It’s the story of repentance and redemption.  The story is so good, I’ve included the 1938 movie as number 10 on this list as well.  Best line:  Scrooge to Cratchit:  “I suppose you’ll be wanting the whole day off for Christmas!”  I try this line on my employees every year.  It’s always good for some nervous laughter.

Continue reading “Top 10 Christmas Movies Of All Time”

Movies For Teaching Worldview

When the Apostle Paul preached in Athens, he quoted Greek poets. (Acts 17:16-34). Paul was trying to connect with the Athenians by demonstrating he understood their worldview and using that point of connection as a segue to the Gospel.

In the United States movies, not poetry, are the prevailing cultural medium. That’s one of the reasons the wife and I are avid movie-goers. We want to understand the worldview of the prevailing culture so we can be more effective in sharing the Gospel.

With that, here are five movies one could use to teach a Sunday school or small group about worldview and modern culture.

1.  Crimes & Misdemeanors (1989). In this movie, writer and director Woody Allen asks the questions, “If on earth evil is not punished and virtue is not rewarded, is there really a God and how should we then live?” It’s a common question, for which Christians should have an answer.  This movie was nominated for 3 Academy Awards: Best Original Screenplay (Woody Allen), Best Director (Woody Allen) and Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Martin Landau).

2.  Unforgiven (1992).  Clint Eastwood directed and starred in this anti-western western, which is a rebuttal to westerns where it was always clear who was the good guy and who was the bad guy. In it Eastwood asks, “What is the true nature of man?” Again, it’s a legitimate question. Do you agree with Eastwood’s answer or does Christianity provide a better one? This movie won an Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Gene Hackman) and Best Film Editing.

3.  Up In The Air (2009).  George Clooney stars in this movie, which pits man’s quest for career success against his need for true community. I reviewed the movie here in a previous post. This movie was nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director (Jason Reitman) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Jason Reitman/Sheldon Turner) and Best Actor in a Leading Role (George Clooney).

4.  Match Point (2005).  This is a Woody Allen movie that explores the question of whether our lives are determined by chance.  Allen is one of my favorite filmmakers because he asks all the right questions and mixes in enough humor to make the discussion entertaining and profound at the same time. Unfortunately, Allen has all the wrong answers. This movie was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay (Woody Allen).

5.  Burn After Reading (2008). This movie is from Joel and Ethan Coen, who like Woody Allen, ask the right questions, make you laugh, then suggest the wrong answers.  Don’t let the humor in their movies mislead you though because they ask serious questions. Burn After Reading suggests our lives are guided by chance and if there is a God who sees all, he is just a spectator.

By suggesting these are good movies for Sunday school or a small group, I’m not suggesting they are rated G.  If they were we wouldn’t be talking about using them to understand the prevailing non-Christian culture. You will have to decide how much to show and appropriately warn those who choose to watch them. They are instructive, and those Christians who are prepared to respond to the serious questions they posit will be better equipped to expand the kingdom of God in their sphere of influence. GS

Movie Review: Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

“Greed is good,” according to the villain of the “victimless” crime, Gordon Gekko. Oliver Stone disagrees, and he makes sure you understand it in his latest movie, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.

Gekko is out of prison and lurking in the background of the stock market’s most recent collapse, playing the role of prophet and profiteer. You don’t know whether to love him or hate him, and that’s the way Stone wants you to think about Gekko because, as Gekko says, “We are all a mixed bag.”

Some bags are worse than others though, and in this movie, as in the original classic, Wall Street, the bad are the greedy.

Although the movie suffers from some preachiness and too much reliance on narration, the message is a good one: Greed is not good. For this Stone should be commended. He drives his point home on so many levels one can hardly miss it.

Greed is what cost Gekko his marriage, his daughter’s love and his son’s life. Greed is what cost taxpayers a $700 billion government bailout, millions of jobs and the worst economy in 70 years.

This is a movie Christians should encourage people to see because its message is one straight out of the Book: the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil. (I Timothy 6:10).

There is no nudity or sexual content in the movie, and little profanity, if any.

However, I am confident that because Christians perceive Oliver Stone as a liberal they will not flock to this movie and will not encourage others to do so. This, I fear, is evidence too many Christians value politics more than virtue.

The bottom line is that this is an entertaining movie with a great message. It’s a movie worth seeing. Rated PG-13. GS

Movie Review: Up In The Air (2009)

Up In The Air is an entertaining movie with a worthy message. Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) fires people for a living. He works for a company contracted by businesses who need to fire employees but don’t want to deal with the emotional mess that accompanies it.

Bingham loves his job, which allows him to travel from city to city enjoying the “simulated hospitality” offered by airlines, hotels and rental car companies to their loyal repeat customers. Bingham’s loyalty is to impersonal, non-human corporations. His idea of a relationship is a flight attendant greeting him by name when he boards his flight. His life is “up in the air” in that he is not connected relationally to others. Bingham’s job title is as antiseptic as his life: “Career Transition Consultant.” Even in the midst of terminating others, Bingham’s simulated sympathy is delivered dead pan. The lack of community, relationship and emotional attachments insulate Bingham from the pain of really living.

But Bingham loves his life, or so he thinks, until he falls for Alex (Vera Farmiga) and decides to join the human race, leading to an unexpected twist and ending, which I won’t spoil for you here. It’s to Clooney’s credit his charm keeps the movie light enough to be entertaining while it delivers its very serious message.

That message? Community matters. People matter. There is more to life than racking up frequent flyer miles and drinking martinis in the club lounge at the airport. A career is not a substitute for relationships and community. Hollywood got this one right. I recommend it. Rated R (Language and Some Sexual Content). GS