Reviews

This is a movie I've been meaning to see ever since my cousin recommended it a long time ago. He mentioned the enormous amount of weight that Christian Bale had lost for the role and I remembered those haunting images going all the way back to the original TV commercials. So, I saw it and um... seeing Christian Bale really really skinny is almost the biggest payoff this movie has and I'm pretty sure I could have Googled some photos, maybe video and satisfied my curiosity had I only known what a waste of time this film would be.

The bright shining moments in this film are a few with Jennifer Jason Leigh who plays a hooker with a heart of gold vermeil. There is something about Jennifer that I really like and I think she should have been and still should be in many more movies, but good ones.

So, there's this terribly skinny guy who lives in an almost film noir world, there is color but it's very muted. The music is strange (almost melodramatic) and definitely sets a mood. The whole film is weird, that mix of I wanna be noir and I wanna be David Lynch but it's neither. To me it's just out of place. If this were made in the 1940's to early 50's with a serious tone, it may have worked. The story isn't strong enough for the films style or its weirdness and certainly does not justify anyone dieting themselves down to a near corpse. I guess if they gave Oscars for best skinny Bale would have blown 'em away but...

The point of Bale's weight loss is his character's attempt to vanish, to not be the person who he is which turns out to be a killer, hit and run in a red 69 Camaro. I forgot to mention that he's an insomniac who hasn't slept for a year. That plus a guilty conscious makes for a very paranoid delusional life. Finally he takes the exit on route 666 and confesses his sins to the police, he's wearing a tee shirt that I believe reads, "Justice Brothers." Yep. I mean I dunno, was that supposed to be heavy, deep? This film did not in any way, shape or form do it for me. It lacked any real substance and I bet Christian just gains it all back anyway, fatty. That last part was humor. Yes, I know he's not fat, at least until a script comes up needing a very very fat man... Jennifer Jason Leigh, we need you!

Not a great movie but not bad either. What I liked about it is that it wasn't the usual preaching to the choir film. I hope that non Christians could watch this and be entertained enough to see it through and consider the subject.

The movie is like the book in many ways. It's about a 4 year old boy who almost dies during surgery. He sees angels, Jesus, dead relatives and a rainbow horse in Heaven. In both the book and movie the boys visions seem a bit like the images one might see in a Watchtower tract. That said, the boy is convinced in what he's seen and describes things he shouldn't know about.

The book goes into much more detail especially about the the boys illness. The son, Colton had a ruptured appendix. In the movie this is quickly diagnosed while in real life the Dr. seemed to have had no clue what was wrong and Colton's suffering and almost dying is drawn out for a very long time.

I think where the movie differs the most from the book is that it tries to be more palatable to non Christians. The book is very much about being saved, believing in Jesus, that He is God made into flesh and that He died for our sins and rose again on the third day. The movie feels more open about who might go to Heaven, as if it didn't want to offend.

I think maybe the film should have been a bit tougher in it's approach and not tried to appeal to everyone is such a warm, 'we all get to go to Heaven' sorta way, or at least have given biblical evidence for that view. Maybe "all things are possible with God" would have sufficed.

For the most part the story is well told. Again my hope is the movie makes people think and ask, what if Jesus/Heaven is for real? I like that this film didn't feel contrived. I would love to see more movies that explore faith, that are not afraid of Christianity nor feel the need to bash and make fun of one's experiences. I would love to see these films made by and acted by those who are not necessarily people of faith as I think they can bring a more honest and objective perspective to the subject.

Not a great film, but one worth having been made.

The film begins with Adam Carolla as Micah and Monica Lewinsky as Katie living together in a well lit San Diego suburban home. He plays a blue electric guitar which is not hooked up to an amp. She knits. They continue doing boring things throughout the entire film. He is recording their goings on, trying to capture proof of paranormal activity so that he might figure out and fix the problem. He's handy like that and if he can't fix it... at least it's been a learning experience. She calls a ghost hunter who tells them they have demons, he can't help but gives them the number of a demon hunter who can. As the ghost hunter leaves Micah rolls his eyes and mutters under his breath something about, "and the horse you rode in on."

Katie wants to call the demon hunter but Micah insists that he can handle it, his house, his girlfriend, his demon... This is where a boring movie gets stupid. Little by little paranormal stuff happens, Micah show Katie zero respect and she being the ever obedient girlfriend (I mean aren't all girlfriends obedient?) whines but goes along with his excellent plan which he never explains. And things get worse.

When this film came out there was hype and comparisons to The Blaire Witch Project. I believe demons exist. I believe that many of the events that happened in this movie could actually happen in the real world. Go ahead and laugh (I wish I could have at least laughed during this flick) but I actually think I've had a demonic experience in my life and no, it would not make a good movie!

Nothing was scary about this movie. I imagine if you saw it in a theater filled with morons that the energy of combined stupidity might make someone afraid, but that's it. In the theater I didn't find The Blaire Witch Project frightening. It was afterward thinking about the film, thinking about the nature of evil as a living force, and appreciating the way the story was put together that allowed me to like the film. Paranormal Activity only makes me wonder why? Nothing was good about it. It was poop. As the movie continues it is no longer well lit and in fact ends in blackness. The use of light in this movie was (I want to say retarded here... like they thought they were so clever... instead I'm just going to stop). Adam Carolla's body was found several days later. Monica Lewinsky hasn't been heard from since.