REVIEWED IN THE WINTER 2008 INDICATOR . . .
CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD
Feature Film on DVD
Reviewed by Lee McCain
It's so easy to jump on a bandwagon when the phenomenon is a sure bet. Most forget that an overnight success generally takes more than a few "overnights", and in Neale Donald Walsch's case, many of those nights were spent in homeless camps as he recovered from an accident that rendered him unemployable for a long period of time.
Well, the phenomenon was established with the publication of the titular book, which sold millions and spawned a franchise book series that continues to enthrall with each new installment.
It would have been a very difficult, and perhaps
even impossible order to shoot the film exactly as the book, it
being
a series of literal conversations.
Instead, the filmmakers told the story of Walsch himself, and the period
in the early 90's leading up to the worldwide publication of the
bestseller. The movie never disappoints,
and clever methods were used to infuse the conversations while avoiding the
number one pitfall in this kind of filmic challenge: Never stop your story.
Movies have to move, and this one does. It will also move many to tears, as it did
this writer, because of its honest portrayal of homelessness in a nation that
should know and do better. But if the story is reliable and true, perhaps the greatest truth of the film is Henry Czerny's portrayl of Walsch.
Walsch should feel honored by Czerny's work.He has the look, the walk, the
mercurial emotions, the attributes, and the foibles of the man he evokes to
such a degree that one imagines the real Walsch unnerved by so total a
performance. This is not a thumbnail
sketch; rather, it is the kind of detailed characterization usually reserved
for one-man shows about Mark Twain or FDR.
Of special note: The score by Emilio Kauderer is so delicate,
yet so forcefully moving that it feels like it is part of writer Eric
DelaBarre's wonderful script.
The direction by Stephen Simon
is tight, no doubt in part by Sherri Schlesinger's excellent editing, and Joao
Fernandes' stunning cinematography is the perfect paintbrush for the beautiful
Ashland, Oregon-area locations. The DVD
is available at all of the usual retailers and through Netflix, as well as the Spirtual Cinema Circle: www.joinscc.com _______________________________________________________
