I always seem to hesitate when it comes to watching a film involving faith and/or religious beliefs. I have come up with several reasons why-
First, faith and belief films are dangerous because it can be hard to tell when the filmmakers are merely throwing a viewpoint out there or are preaching to you in an attempt to convert the masses (discussion vs. propaganda).
Second, the faith or beliefs portrayed in a film could be factually or categorically incorrect.
Third and lastly, negative or positive reviews for the film can be controversial and people may claim your rating is based largely off of whether or not you agree with the beliefs on display.
I assure you, these kind of films can be difficult to rate. Some faith-based films are easily swept under the rug because they are simply not well done. Others are not so easily dismissed. Case in point: Conversations with God.
The film presents itself as a docudrama about Neale Donald Walsch and how he went from being a homeless man to a best-selling Neo-Christian author. Most of the film details how horrible his life was and the trials and tribulations he endured before God began speaking to him one night. The remaining 1/3 or so of the film shows his rise to fame, as he writes down everything God is telling him and he turns it into a series of books and some of the situations he faces based on the public’s perception of his ideas.
There is only a sprinkling of the content of Walsch’s books present in the film, which I felt was a strike against it. Judging from just the snippets of Walsch’s proposed changes to Christian thought (which may or may not have been divinely inspired) the film makes it look as if there was no controversy surrounding his series. I’m sure there had to be some uproar over this guy. Maybe not. Evangelicals may not have been as vocal back in the mid 90s, but I’m sure the filmmakers glossed over whatever controversy there was. Instead, we’re led to believe this guy made waves in Christianity and his ideas sparked some kind of small-scale theological revolution.
This is obviously not true, as I had never heard of the guy before, though seemed to vaguely recognize the title of his book series. And in this way, the film does kind of make a mountain out of a molehill. Sure, the guy made millions of dollars off his books, but the fact that he hasn’t made a big splash in the writing world since I was in middle school tells me something- either this film was made by over-zealous followers of Walsch who wish to spread his message, or there’s money involved.
Maybe it’s a little of each. Walsch was involved with writing the screenplay, which is understandable, because I wouldn’t want anybody mucking up my life story. This makes me wonder if he helped keep things accurate to reality or if some of the cheesy dialog was amped up at his request.
Beyond the fill-in-the-blank structure of this success story, there is enough product placement to pique your interest in what all Walsch says in his books and the film leaves just content out to make you actually want to go out and buy/borrow a copy. This is partly where the film crossed the line for me. Here it began to straddle the line between docudrama and infomercial. It has been 10 years or more since Walsch’s books hit shelves everywhere and his relative obscurity nowadays makes me think this film also was intended to spark new interest in his books. I felt slightly indignant about this, but there’s enough ambiguity in that court to avoid offending me out right.
The film certainly does do a good job at hammering home how wretched the man’s life was before his book series, but it stretches on for an almost uncomfortably long majority of the film. There’s a line between highlighting your protagonist’s misery and brooding in it, and I think Conversations with God may have crossed that line. An audience can only take so much sorrow and depressing environments before it either becomes too much to bear or borders on annoying. And I didn’t find that there was enough joy on the upswing side of the story to sufficiently makeup for all the wallowing that went on. Perhaps the story feels incomplete because Walsch’s success isn’t over now that we’re all interested in reading his books. Or maybe they were trying to keep the story humble. It’s actually a tad difficult to tell.
Finally, the acting isn’t so bad. Henry Czerny is believable as Walsch, creating a character who feels desperate and someone you can really sympathize for. He’s not your typical gorgeous Hollywood type. He looks like an average Joe, which helps him and the film. I must say, however, that Czerny’s performance involves a lot of staring and hopeless gazing. The last time I can remember someone acting so much through their eyes was Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai. And no, that’s not a compliment.
Something about this film just feels off to me, and it’s not just the quasi-“new age” beliefs it seems to support (subjectivity in regard the religious content did factor slightly into the rating). Part of it feels fabricated and designed to make you want to read those books of Walsch’s, which seems dishonest. And also, how did Walsch know it was God talking to him? I don’t recall him ever questioning that, which seems odd. When people claim to be vessels of God’s wisdom, this reviewer grows a little wary.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!
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