'The Young Messiah … Is The Best Jesus Movie Ever'
"The Young Messiah," based on Anne Rice's historical novel, "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt," is the best Jesus movie ever.
It combines the latest and best in filmmaking and the dramatic arts; mature biblical scholarship, theology and imagination. It is biblically and theologically sound (always a tricky task when speaking about Jesus, but even more so the Child Jesus and his "human knowledge" – what did he/didn't he allow himself to know in his humanity?)
"The Young Messiah" shows lots of homework was done. No trendy 21st-century ideas plopped in. No apocryphal musings (beyond Jesus bringing a bird back to life). The dialogue is so carefully crafted that every word effortlessly rings true in these fully-fleshed-out and delightful characters. The text of the Scriptures is faithfully adhered to (without really taking liberties) and then sundry plot points – that totally work – are skillfully woven in to bring life to the text. Every scene is to support the text, not draw away from it. All exposition is invisible and clever. The almost all-British cast slays it.
This story of one year in the life of the Child Jesus begins with Jesus in Egypt being bullied by another boy from the Jewish community, and escalates into some gripping action – which it maintains to one degree or another throughout the film. Never boring. Never trite. There are no hackneyed turns of phrases. The theology is precise. This film has everything in it but the sensational.
Wunderkind, Adam Greaves-Neal (in his first film role!), plays Jesus with childlike openness, earnestness and chutzpah, and avoids gooey sentimentality – as does the whole film. His facial expressions and reactions are just completely natural. You will fall in love with this little Jesus and just want to hug him.
Mary and Joseph are the consistently best Mary and Joseph the screen has seen [Sara Lazzaro and Vincent Walsh (Irish: raised in Dublin & Toronto)]. There aren't just a few good scenes or lines for these two. The whole film exposes what it might be like to be the world's most unique couple, with their utter devotion to Jesus and to each other.
Mary and Joseph don't have all the answers, but they know this precious and precocious kid is God's Son – and their own profound faith and love encompasses him. Mary and Joseph wrangle a bit with each other over what is best for Jesus; and both, especially Mary, are hyper-vigilant and appropriately worried for most of the film. But Mary and Joseph also know that only they – out of the whole world – can truly understand each other. A wonderful, mutual, egalitarian marriage is portrayed.
The entire cast shows us how people of faith – specifically 1st-century Jews – wrangle with God and the mysteries of God. Stunning. The Satan character (Rory Keenan, also Irish) lends yet another layer.
Jesus must slowly grasp who he is and learn to keep his powers under wraps for now. He's moved by human misery, pain, suffering and sickness, and realizes that when he prays over people or asks God for something, healing occurs; miracles happen. And others are watching, too. Herod Jr. – as despicable as his father – begins to get wind of a little healer boy and realizes that he is just the right age to be the Messiah, "Wonder-Counselor, Prince of Peace." Maybe this child escaped the Bethlehem bloodbath. He sends his centurion (Sean Bean) – who was also present at Bethlehem and carried out the slaughter – to find and kill the boy Jesus. This constant believable danger, with its attending intrigue and narrow escapes, lends an urgency to the whole film.
Mary and Joseph keep Jesus' origins and early life a secret from him, but this is not proving to be helpful. Without doing a spoiler here, Mary eventually tells Jesus about the Annunciation in a wonderfully tender scene, as Jesus tries to comprehend: "So is the angel my father?"
This story – this film – believes. (Not everyone who worked on/in the film necessarily believes, of course, but the film itself does.)
This is the beauty of virsimilitude and acting: putting oneself "in the place of" with every fiber of one's being. Anne Rice is Catholic, and the Catholicity of this film is palpable.
This film manages to make the Jesus’ gentleness tough, hip and cool – even in the face of the savage might of Rome. (Great for men to see!) My favorite quick image to illustrate this is the final "home" of the little wooden camel (I assure you that will make sense when you see the movie).
Only the best writers, filmmakers and thespians could pull off such an engrossing marvel as "The Young Messiah." I am in awe. It would be grand if this same set of creative geniuses would do the adult Jesus, but YM is gift enough.
Appropriate for children? Yes! (What better role model for the kiddos?) – if they can handle seeing men hanging on crosses and the repeated non-graphic murders of the Holy Innocents.
