Leap of Faith (1992)

Fake faith healer Jonas Nightingale is stranded in a small town where he finds he can't fool all of the people all of the time.

Director:

Richard Pearce

Writer:

Janus Cercone

Stars:

Steve Martin, Debra Winger, Lolita Davidovich

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steve Martin	...	Jonas
Debra Winger	...	Jane
Lolita Davidovich	...	Marva
Liam Neeson	...	Will
Lukas Haas	...	Boyd
Meat Loaf	...	Hoover
Philip Seymour Hoffman	...	Matt
M.C. Gainey	...	Tiny
LaChanze	...	Georgette
Delores Hall	...	Ornella
John Toles-Bey	...	Titus
Albertina Walker	...	Lucille
Ricky Dillard	...	Ricky
Vince Davis	...	Roger
Troy Evans	...	Dade

Storyline

Jonas is a fraudulent faith healer, who uses all the tricks in the book to con the people attending his shows. Jonas and his team of helpers, including Jane who is in need of some romance, travel the country stopping at big towns and cities to put on their show. When one of the trucks breaks down in a small town, Jonas is quick to accept the challenge of making money in this town. His other goal is to seduce Marva, a waitress in the town, but she's a hard nut to crack, as is Will, the local sheriff who's determined to expose Jonas as a fraud.

---

Plot Keywords:

truck | faith healer | religion exploitation | faith | fraud | 

---

Taglines:

Real miracles, sensibly priced.

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 December 1992 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Schein-Heilige

Filming Locations:

Building One, Studios at Las Colinas - 6301 North O'Connor Road, Irving, Texas, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$23,369,283

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min 95 min (Ontario)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jonas's "mind-reading" trick, wherein he receives intimate details about his marks via a small radio, loosely follows the exploits of televangelist Peter Popoff, who performed a very similar trick with his wife at the microphone. Popoff's career took a nosedive when he was publicly "outed" on the Johnny Carson show by professional magician and skeptic James Randi, who had managed to smuggle a radio scanner into one of Popoff's revival meetings.

---

Goofs

When Will consoles a conflicted Jane by massaging her bare feet in his backyard, an overhead shot shows him rubbing her left foot but when the camera cuts to a medium shot, Will's hand is gently caressing the toes of her right foot for the remainder of the scene.

---

Quotes

Jonas: Never underestimate the power of belief, boy. With it, I've seen a mute sing "Hallelujah" and I've seen an old man get out of his wheelchair and dance. When you've got it, you've got the power of every ocean and every star right in your hand. Without it you've got nothing. Everyone you meet is just another sinner, and everywhere you go is just another hell.

---

Crazy Credits

During the closing credits, the 'Angels of Mercy' singers are shown singing to a tent full of people (including some of the cast members).

---

Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Jim Carrey/Soundgarden (1996)

---

Soundtracks

Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat
by Frank Loesser
Performed and Produced by Don Henley
Don Henley performs courtesy of Geffen Records

User Reviews

Have a little faith, my brothers!

Steve Martin is a great comedian. Always has been, always will be. (Even after the Out-of-Towners.) But very comedian at one point or another gets that itch. The one that can make or break a comedians career. The drama itch.

On the surface, this looks like a silly satire of traveling evangelist. But if you look deeper, you will see Steve Martin giving what is perhaps the most powerful performance of his career. Fresh from movies like HouseSitter, Father of the Bride, and L.A. Story (one of my personal favourites), Steve Martin plays a con man who's current con is working as a traveling evangelist. Despite being a movie about a con man, however, Steve Martin does something that not many people thought he could do at the time: he showed he could actually act! And in a movie that had a message, nonetheless. Yes, the man who once played the banjo with an arrow through his head delivers a message.

Yes, this movie has it's flaws - meandering on insignificant side stories while under developing others, leaving some stories unresolved - but most of these are story flaws. Faith movies (or at least good ones) have never been about stories, but about the emotions and the messages that they convey, and this movie conveys two very important messages. 1) Sometimes, all you need is faith. 2) Steve Martin can act his goofy ass off!

If you wanna see a movie with a great story and great jokes, rent L.A. Story or Parenthood. If you wanna see a movie with a great message that even an agnostic would find uplifting (see previous reviews) then watch Leap of Faith.