Jesus (1999)
Jesus (1999) is one of the latest Jesus films being released only 8 years ago. It first aired on CBS in America and Sky in the UK, but has been broadcast many times since in a number of different countries. Whilst unmistakably set in the 1st Century it takes a very modern approach to the story.
(Director: Roger Young) (Cast:Jeremy Sisto…Jesus, Debra Messing…Mary Magdalene, Armin Mueller-Stahl…Joseph, Jacqueline Bisset…Mary, Gary Oldman…Pontius Pilate, David O’Hara…John the Baptist, Claudio Amendola…Barabbas, G.W. Bailey…Livio, Luca Barbareschi…Herod Antipas, Luca Zingaretti…Peter, Christian Kohlund…Caiaphas, Elena Sofia Ricci…Herodias, Stefania Rocca…Mary of Bethany, Gabriella Pession…Salome, Maria Cristina Heller…Martha of Bethany, Jeroen Krabbé…Satan (Man), Manuela Ruggeri…Satan (Woman), Peter Gevisser…Lazarus, Thomas Lockyer…Judas, Ian Duncan…John, Gilly Gilchrist…Andrew, Fabio Sartor…James, Sebastian Knapp…Matthew, Sean Harris…Thomas, Karim Doukkali…Philip, Said Bey…Thaddeus, Abedelouhahad Mouaddine…James the Less, El Housseine Dejjiti…Simon, Mohammed Taleb…Bartholomew, Omar Lahlou…Nathanael, Miles C. Hobson…Jesus (6 Years Old), Josh Maguire…Young Jesus, Zack Maguire…Young John, Rick Warden…Jared, Iddo Goldberg…Seth)
October 8th, 2007 at 8:30 pm
I very much agree with your assessment. Working in the Christian retail market at the time of this film’s release and having seen the enormous marketing push behind it, I was surprised to see so many strong thematic similarities to “The Last Temptation of Christ”. I was also quite unsurprised to find the film to be bland, weak, typical and boring.
I think you’re spot on about Sisto’s performance. He seems to be walking through the set with no purpose, no driving vision or passion. He’s just there to embody a warm, fuzzy picture of Jesus. Much of his playfulness is very likely owed to the success (particularly in the Christian market) of Bruce Marchiano’s performance in the Visual Bible’s “Matthew” a few years prior. But, while Marchiano brought great dimension and passion to the role and showed us a man who truly had great compassion on humanity, Sisto’s Jesus seems ultimately to do little more that play in the dirt. In more dramatic scenes, his performance is forced and wooden.
As the film tries desperately to be relevant, mixing in a grab bag of popular ideas about Jesus, it ends up being a survey course in pop theology with no real investigation of ideas. Add in the positively hokey CGI show and terribly pretentious segment on modern warfare during the temptation sequence, and we have a film that tries so hard to modernize Jesus that it fails to tell a story or present us with a person (let alone a message) to really care about.
As you say, there was much potential here, but the end result is an unfocused surface treatment that fails to find real substance.
June 18th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
I am a writer living in the US & I want to thank you for your podcast, Currently I have written article for a friend’s self-published magazine. The article is called “Jesus Christ Movie Star” & it covers 90% of the movies you have listed. I have also included others that you haven’t listed (e.g.: “Godspell”, Johnny Cash’s “The Gospel Road”, “Daygascar”, “Issa: The Spirit of God”, “The Color of The Cross” & many more). I also want to thank you for including this movie & “Jesus of Nazareth” (1977), these two are my favorite. I know that “Jesus” has been given mixed reviews all around but I love this movie because this Jesus seems so (to quote you) “relaxed”. He has this (pardon me if this seems silly) “Teddy-bear feel” that just makes you feel comfortable, while in JoN, this Jesus seems so mystical & otherworldly especially while looking @ the actor’s unblinking eyes. I would like to share my article with you once it is published, if you don’t mind. It will be published sometime between Sept. & Christmas of this year. Again, thank you so much for your podcast. {{{{^_^}}}}
April 20th, 2009 at 11:10 am
I watched this movie!!! Jesus so lovely!!!