I'd be interested in a film that covered the time from the Resurrection to the Ascension.
Though probably not exactly the story you are thinking of, 2016's
Risen was a pretty darn good film. I took my mom to see this and was pleasantly surprised.
The film follows the story of the Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension from the perspective of a Roman soldier, Joseph Fiennes, who puts in a tremendous performance. I'd Put Fiennes' performance with Alden Ehrenreich's in
Hail, Caesar! as the best I've seen this year.
Tom Felton was a very bizarre casting choice that didn't quite work for me and I'm conflicted on Cliff Curtis' turn as Jesus. He wasn't bad, but something was a bit off-putting for me. IDK.
The actors who portray the Apostles were a real treat. None of these guys have Wikipedia pages, but I'm sure that will change soon, as I'd expect most of them start getting regular acting gigs based off what they did here.
The film looks great, the director and DP did great work here.
I hated the narrative structure of the film being told in flashback, but felt it was handled a billion times better than
In The Heart Of The Sea, inasmuch as
Risen doesn't repeatedly revisit the storyteller.
Risen keeps this aspect confined to bookends and lets you forget about it, whereas Howard's film keeps going back to Michelle Fairley's horrible 'performance' throughout the film.
The best part? This film was 107 minutes and felt like 80. There was none of the forced 'epicness' that I typically expect from a 'Jesus movie.'
I could've sworn SCB had a thread and review of
Risen, but I couldn't find it.
