This movie really affected me. It keeps haunting me two days after seeing it ...
There are a few inconsequential spoilers here. Read them anyway; just don't see the film.
Bless The Child broke the cardinal rule of film-making: "Create Tension". It was never in doubt that the good guys were going to win the war. Of course. But in this film, they weren't even allowed to lose a battle. The good guys could cheat by having God step in and get them out of anything.
"Your car's hanging off a bridge and about to fall? Here, take this angel's hand." I'm not kidding. Real angels. Sent just because the good guys had to win. *puke*
The six-year-old girl gave not the slightest indication that she was going over to the dark side. Rufus Sewell did his best Darth Vader ("Feel the anger! Use the hate!"). Apparently his plan to take over the world depended on completely converting a little girl who was possessed by God. In attempting to do this, he immolated a homeless man. Yeah, that'll work. There wasn't a trace of a dilemma on the girl's face. What is your plan, Rufus?! Offer the girl the world? What's she going to do with it? And is the audience supposed to feel any of the temptation? We're never shown any upsides of this supposedly powerful evil. Not even a nice house.
That climax. I guess I could write it. Let's see, Rufus will wear a robe and speak some dangerous-sounding Latin. The little girl will sit there and do nothing. Some evil special-effects, build the tension ...
Oops. No tension, very brief effects, and then it's all over. Angels storm the place, and Rufus copped a God-guided bullet. Oh yeah, his second-in-command bizarrely rushed out of nowhere and was despatched in four seconds.
The final scene. A Rufus follower, in slow motion, in broad daylight, is racing to stab the little girl. She looks at him. He backs away. YOU CALL THAT A TWIST?!
Bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb (five bombs). And Kim Basinger taught Hugh Grant to run. At least that gave me a laugh.
- How did that script get to production? - How did the movie get to general release? - And they spent money marketing it?!
There are a few inconsequential spoilers here. Read them anyway; just don't see the film.
Bless The Child broke the cardinal rule of film-making: "Create Tension". It was never in doubt that the good guys were going to win the war. Of course. But in this film, they weren't even allowed to lose a battle. The good guys could cheat by having God step in and get them out of anything.
"Your car's hanging off a bridge and about to fall? Here, take this angel's hand." I'm not kidding. Real angels. Sent just because the good guys had to win. *puke*
The six-year-old girl gave not the slightest indication that she was going over to the dark side. Rufus Sewell did his best Darth Vader ("Feel the anger! Use the hate!"). Apparently his plan to take over the world depended on completely converting a little girl who was possessed by God. In attempting to do this, he immolated a homeless man. Yeah, that'll work. There wasn't a trace of a dilemma on the girl's face. What is your plan, Rufus?! Offer the girl the world? What's she going to do with it? And is the audience supposed to feel any of the temptation? We're never shown any upsides of this supposedly powerful evil. Not even a nice house.
That climax. I guess I could write it. Let's see, Rufus will wear a robe and speak some dangerous-sounding Latin. The little girl will sit there and do nothing. Some evil special-effects, build the tension ...
Oops. No tension, very brief effects, and then it's all over. Angels storm the place, and Rufus copped a God-guided bullet. Oh yeah, his second-in-command bizarrely rushed out of nowhere and was despatched in four seconds.
The final scene. A Rufus follower, in slow motion, in broad daylight, is racing to stab the little girl. She looks at him. He backs away. YOU CALL THAT A TWIST?!
Bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb (five bombs). And Kim Basinger taught Hugh Grant to run. At least that gave me a laugh.