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63 comments in total

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12 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
A good idea, down the toilet, 13 January 2001

Author: TechNoir from Alcala de Henares, Spain

The Body is an example of how an interesting idea for a movie (the ideological and political implications of the discovery of the body of a crucified man that could be Jesus Christ) can go absolutely wrong. It could have made a really good movie with interesting analysis of the situation, but it is an absolute failure: The script is very bad, with meaningless and forced dialogues. The cinematography and screenplay is very bad too with a lot of repeated and uninteresting shots (no, not that city fly-by again please...) And besides the technical details, there are a lot of senseless and very cheap scenes, and a lot of absurd events (i.e., even though the Israeli authorities are very interested in the matter, sometimes there's guards around the excavation, sometimes when the storyline needs it there are none... and I could go on...) There's no rythm, there's nothing... it's like any cheap TV telefilm.

The acting is quite bad too. However not as bad as the rest of the movie...

All in all, it's really a pity. The movie is boring, technically flawed and very badly directed. Either if you're looking for a thriller (that's the way it's being sold) or a philosophical clip, look elsewhere. It will make quite a lot of cash though, due to the presence of Banderas and a clever marketing campaign that make the movie look really good.

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13 out of 18 people found the following comment useful :-
Religion and Politics, 9 May 2003
Author: Robert J. Maxwell (rmax304823@yahoo.com) from Deming, New Mexico

Well, an Israeli widow, Olivia Williams, uncovers a hidden tomb in Jerusalem, and there is some suggestion that it might be that of Christ. This causes a considerable stir in the Vatican because, after all, Christ's body shouldn't be there unless he was an ordinary man. So they send Father Antonio Banderas down there to investigate, telling him ahead of time, so that he doesn't misunderstand his mission, that "the body is not that of Christ."

Banderas and Williams form at first a kind of mismatched cop/buddy team, he instense and inhibited, she breezily outgoing and scientific. But they soon run into trouble that pulls them together in their goals. I admit I didn't understand all of the reasons why so many groups wanted to interfere with the investigation or to exploit the find for political purposes. The first trouble they run into is an orthodox Jewish sect whose members bombard them with rocks and steal an important artifact. Then there is the leader of a Palestinian group, the PLO, I mean the FLP, or rather the PDQ. He wants his henchmen to get their hands on the bones. I forget why but I'm sure the purpose is nefarious. You can tell because he's got a face on him like the assassin in Hitchcock's "The Man Who Knew Too Much." And you can identify his thugs when you see them because they're all swarthier than everybody else. The head Israeli honcho in this business, Shrapnel, informs the Vatican that as soon as Jerusalem is recognized as the sole capital of a united country, the bones will be released. (I understood that.) This all leads to a final semi-violent confrontation between the PDQ leader and the priest, in which the latter is wounded and the former is blown to smithereens. Oh, that reminds me, there is some comic relief from a sloppy young Irish priest who is a computer hacker. The question of whose body it is, is resolved at the end, but nobody in the movie finds out about it, only the viewer. Father Banderas resigns his commission and decides to follow God in his own way. He writes a very nice letter to Williams, but the movie stops short of having them fall into each other's arms. Let's not disturb anybody by raising REAL problems. (Are we going to observe Shabbat? How are we going to raise the kids?)

The photography is okay, and it's an interesting exploration of modern Israel and the political and ethnic maelstrom that it is, while at the same time much less didactic than "Exodus," which might have been called "Zionism for Dummies." The acting is better than one might expect. Antonio Banderas has a sympatico appearance. He exudes sincerity in this part. And he's not a bad actor, the kind of ordinary man who engages us without being particularly glamorous, the way some European actors like Jean-Louis Trintignant or Jean Moreau do. Olivia Williams isn't quite as convincing but she is very sexy and appealing, and looks the part of a 30-ish practical-minded Israeli woman, worn but warm. She almost, but not quite, gives Banderas some chicken soup one night. The musical score sounds like it's from a stock library somewhere, from a file labeled "Suspense music." Shrapnel looks the part of the Israeli honcho too. He sounds uncannily like Paul Stewart.

This isn't a puzzle that I find particularly interesting, although I don't know why. Religious belief leads so regularly to violence and intrigue. But I don't really think that if a body were positively identified as Christ's it would change things very much. Cognitive dissonance theory suggests that, if anything, it would strengthen our beliefs in some way. (Cf., "When Prophecy Fails.") The problem would at least be papered over somehow. I'm happy that I watched it, I suppose, if only because of Olivia Williams and Antonio Banderas, both of whom are worth watching, for somewhat different reasons, but in fact I did spend two hours following this complicated story and may just be reducing post-decision dissonance.

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5 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Not so much bad as far too safe, 17 July 2007

Author: TrevorAclea from London, England

Given a new resonance in the light of James Cameron's recent Geraldo Riveraesque TV special, The Body certainly isn't the stinker the critics claimed, more a film with an intriguing premise that it's too eager to avoid offending anyone with to really capitalise on. Somewhat reminiscent of 70s miniseries The Word, it sees Olivia Williams' Jewish archaeologist discover the tomb of a crucified man who died in AD 32 with identical wounds to Christ in Jerusalem, in the process opening a rather nasty can of worms that sees the Catholic Church, the Israeli authorities, Palestinian political groups and Hassidic Jews all at increasing odds over the possible consequences, with the Vatican sending Antonio Banderas' priest to investigate and debunk the find leading to the inevitable crisis of faith. So far so promising, but despite being more entertaining than expected it never quite gets to grips with either the theological or political implications, while playing down the genuine archaeology to avoid confusing the intended audience. Naturally it ends in a shootout and a big explosion (the film throws in another at the halfway point to keep things lively) and things do briefly get silly as a typically hammy Derek Jacobi's loss of faith and subsequent mental breakdown reaches a melodramatic turning point (cue slo-mo anguish from Antonio), but if it never hits the heights it's never dull either and Vilmos Zsigmond's cinematography is typically strong.

Note to Olivia Williams, though: sneering in profile just makes you look like Tara Palmer Tomkinson, and that's not a good look for any girl.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Interesting religious and political drama., 25 August 2006

Author: ba.harrison from Hampshire, England

God has no place in politics—this is the theme of The Body, an interesting film, if not a particularly 'entertaining' one.

Antonio Banderas plays Father Matt Gutierrez, a priest sent by the Vatican to investigate the discovery of a tomb in Jerusalem, which may or may not contain the crucified remains of Christ. Gutierrez has been given instructions by the Vatican to declare that the remains are not those of Christ; but with all of the evidence suggesting otherwise, the priest must struggle with facing the fact that his religion may be founded on a lie, and that, perhaps, Jesus was never resurrected.

Questioning his faith is only the beginning of Gutierrez's problems: Orthodox Jews, angry at the tomb being disturbed, attack the archaeologists; the Israelis blackmail the Vatican, only offering to hand over the body if the Vatican recognises Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel; and the Palestinians, who get wind of Israel's plan and are naturally displeased, kidnap the children of sexy archaeologist Sharon Golban (Olivia Williams), forcing her into stealing the bones.

The movie, shot on location in Jerusalem, has beautiful cinematography and great acting from Banderas and Williams, but the complicated plot may cause many viewers to lose interest. Those with a particular interest in the subject matter will probably glean the most from this rather long and intricate tale, but I can imagine the casual viewer quickly becoming bored.

If you choose to watch this, I recommend that you stick it out to the end; you may not be riveted to the screen but, like me, you might learn a little about a fascinating subject.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Very Dissapointing, 31 July 2001

Author: Loay Omran from Cairo, Egypt.

The Body is a boring movie that attempts to join the new trend of movies that tackle the issue of religion and the anti-christ, christ-related stories ..etc This movie fails greatly. The story is quite stupid and naive. A priest leaves to Jerusalem, on a secret mission, to investigate the discovery of a body, a discovery that threats the whole Christian faith. Banderas, in his worst movie to date, fails to deliver. What we get instead is: Stupid action scenes, a boring "love story" that doesn't fit in the movie, and whats even more sarcastic is that the movie attempts to send a Political message that "Religion has no Place in Politics". Well I have two advises. One: Let the cast of this movie watch "Stigmata". Two: "This Body has no place in my Movie Library". Plain Rubbish 0/10

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
A very worth while movie, 14 February 2007

Author: tsprague1 from Oregon, United States

This movie blew me away the first time that I saw it.

The politics of religion is something that has not been dealt with very well in the movies. This movie does it very well. I found that the reactions to the possible finding of the Christ's tomb to be intriguing. The Catholic Church has told the investigator that the bones in the tomb ARE NOT the bones of the Christ, whatever he finds out.

Each side in this story wishes to use the bones in any way that will be advantageous to themselves. The reality of the bones is immaterial to all of them.

Christ said that "the truth will set you free." In this movie it shows that when it comes to politics, the truth is whatever will get people to follow what you want them to follow.

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Why the great disparity of ratings here?, 7 April 2002
Author: nz man from Masterton, New Zealand

Usually I am quite critical of films, especially Hollywood action films in the line of "The Body". I DID like this one and think it is under-rated but look at the reviews here and you will see extremes of hating and liking this film. This is odd, and I wonder if it has to do with the religious background of those making comments? I have put off renting this film for over a year, due to the low IMDB rating, and was very surprised to find a good solid performance of Antonio Banderas as a priest, decent dialogue, nice eye candy and acting of Olivia Williams, and an intelligent (well, for such an action flick anyhow) thought-provoking story.

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
The Body is DOA, 3 August 2001

Author: guyb from Portland, Oregon

What a shame. This was a great premise. This was a great beginning. Really caught my interest. But nothing ever happened. Kind of like the old cartoon about the billboard with the police car on it. Just paper. No substance. What a waster. Usually, I'm against "remakes," but this is one I'd like to see done right someday. I think it's just that the "body of Christ" just seems to be in vogue at the moment and everybody's trying to grab on to it. (sound historically familiar?)

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3 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
When he rose from the dead,did they believe? (Bob Dylan "in the garden"), 27 May 2006
Author: dbdumonteil

This movie has a plus side and a minus side:

-On the plus side,the fear a priest encounters when he discovers that bones found in a Jerusalem' s grave by an archaeologist might be Jesus 's ones.So if Jesus is a man,it's a whole religion which falls down;one should note that ,for that matter ,the Muslims' and the Jews ' religions stand in little danger of bringing this about.Antonio Banderas is very convincing,I do not know if the actor is a believer,but we do believe the character he portrays is.

-On the minus side,when the movie becomes a thriller (complete with kidnapping,shootings and priest becoming a superhero),it peters out.One can admit the Jews want to keep the Vatican from getting the bones,but that part is not better than a Van Damme flick.

Watch this movie anyway cause it asks disturbing questions.

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3 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Can you imagine if we found proof that Christ's Resurrection never happened?, 12 December 2004

Author: a70eezchild from USA

The premise behind this movie, that we might find physical proof that Jesus never really rose from the dead, was a mind-blowing thought for me. This movie covered all of the angst one might feel if such a finding were to occur. Antonio Banderas is excellent as a priest-researcher sent by the Vatican to explore the findings...and possibly squelch their existence to save the future of the Church. Olivia Williams gives an outstanding performance as an Israeli archaeologist who thinks she may have uncovered the greatest find in the history of mankind. This movie has intrigue, action, and thought-provoking subject matter. A must-see for Christians and non-Christians alike.

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