When Movie Critics Stumble
Category: Movies...
Posted Monday, March 01, 2004 at 07:45 AM [GMT-6]

Joe Morgenstern is the movie critic for the Wall Street Journal. His review of "The Passion of the Christ," published in last Friday's edition, was less than complimentary, focusing on the intense violence in the film, and the several and subtle ways that Jews came off as looking bad, in his opinion.

As I've written here earlier, I find no merit to either of these arguments, as far as determining the value of the movie to believers. But I recognize that these areas are also subjective, and each person brings his or her own context to the discussion. Reasonable people may disagree.

What I do find most interesting, however, was Mr. Morgenstern's opinion regarding the prospects of commercial success for "The Passion."

I don't pretend to know the answer, any more than I know whether "The Passion Of the Christ" will become an instrument of anti-Semitism (though, on second thought, I suspect that it won't because its commercial appeal will prove limited; don't even think about taking young children.)

He implies that any potential harm will be self-limiting, because people just aren't interested.

And here's the measurement of the actual level of interest:

Mel Gibson's gamble on "The Passion of the Christ" paid off enormously, riding a storm of religious debate to a $117.5 million haul in its first five days, according to studio estimates Sunday.

"The Passion," which debuted on Ash Wednesday, rocketed to the No. 1 box-office slot for the weekend with $76.2 million from Friday to Sunday. It was the seventh-best three-day opening ever, behind "Spider-Man" at $114.8 million and such Hollywood franchises as "The Matrix Reloaded" and the first two "Harry Potter" movies.

"The Passion" put up the second-best five-day figures for a movie opening on Wednesday, behind last year's "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" at $124.1 million and ahead of "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace" at $105.6 million. [Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune]

Just as he was wrong about the box office draw, so, too, will his fears about the inflammation of anti-Semitism be unfounded.

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Comments

Isn't it written somewhere: there are none so blind as those who will not see?

The wide divide between those who push a negative agenda and those who humbly and simply experience Mel's movie, kind of shows that, wouldn't you say?

humbly and simply,
Roscoe

Posted by: Roscoe at March 1, 2004 06:15 PM
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