The Young Messiah reviews

[Rebecca]

Sorry if this has already been posted. I can't see a date when it was published.

CBN's Review

It's a layered film, touching on universal themes that can speak to all ages.

King Herod and Severus fill the role of antagonists, but we're also introduced to an arresting darkness that follows Jesus throughout the film.

The cast of The Young Messiah complements each other. Young Greaves-Neal brings such a capturing presence to the Christ child and Bean, a palpable drama to his character and the film.

IN THE END

The Young Messiah transcends expectation. Nowrasteh's film takes you on an inspirational journey, discovering the innocence and divinity of Jesus – just as He begins to uncover his true identity himself.

[Rebecca]

Also, in an age when culture is more sensitive to ethnic authenticity, the mostly-British (and all-British-sounding) cast keeps us from experiencing a full immersion into this time and place.

Huh? So... would he feel more completely immersed if they were all speaking American? Or English with some pseudo-Middle Eastern accents? I don't get this at all. The only thing authentic would be if they were speaking Aramaic, Hebrew, Latin and Greek.  People don't seem to demand that in for example, World War II movies the Germans speak German the Russians speak Russian, etc.

You are so right, Rebecca. On the surface, it's a very strange critique/comment they made. The reason they are even saying this is because it involves religion. No other movie would be held up to this kind of scrutiny. People are just very, very touchy when it comes to the Bible and religion. It's about belief and there is a bit of a movement going on where certain religious leaders are trying to inspire people's faith by giving them a more accurate historical context to put these religious stories into. The more "real" it is, the easier it is to believe.

There isn't much of Sean in this (some clips which have been posted already), but I share it because there is an interesting explanation of how the film ended up with a British accent (they casted around the boy playing Jesus) starting around 2.43.

World Over - 2015-12-10 – ‘The Young Messiah’ movie, director Cyrus Nowrasteh with Raymond Arroyo

[lab183]

Also, in an age when culture is more sensitive to ethnic authenticity, the mostly-British (and all-British-sounding) cast keeps us from experiencing a full immersion into this time and place.

Huh? So... would he feel more completely immersed if they were all speaking American? Or English with some pseudo-Middle Eastern accents? I don't get this at all. The only thing authentic would be if they were speaking Aramaic, Hebrew, Latin and Greek.  People don't seem to demand that in for example, World War II movies the Germans speak German the Russians speak Russian, etc.

There isn't much of Sean in this (some clips which have been posted already), but I share it because there is an interesting explanation of how the film ended up with a British accent (they casted around the boy playing Jesus) starting around 2.43.

A simple & great explanation, nothing sinister nor insensitive about it ,,.these critics are just so over the top ...ugh!

[Rebecca]

2016 delivered a mixed bag for Jesus on the big screen

Sean Bean played a centurion hunting for a possible survivor of Herod’s slaughter of the innocents in “The Young Messiah,” directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh (“The Stoning of Soraya M”) and based on the Anne Rice novel “Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt.”

Which, if any, of these films are actually worth seeing?
Critics weren’t bowled over by any of them. The best reviewed of the lot was “Hail, Caesar!”, the least acclaimed Coen film since 2008’s “Burn After Reading.” Audiences were more negative and box office was disappointing. At any rate, I thoroughly enjoyed it; I might almost be the ideal audience for this film, though it doesn’t seem to play as well for everyone as it does for me.
That goes double for “The Young Messiah,” a film few critics found as compelling and creative as I did.

Of the year’s three films (along with “Last Days” and “40 Nights”) pitting Jesus against Satan, only “The Young Messiah” makes Jesus more compelling than the Devil. I also appreciate that this Satan knows Jesus is something special but (like 8-year-old Jesus) isn’t yet quite sure why.
To my chagrin, the film’s reception was nearly the opposite of what I hoped for. Critics generally found it a dull, unremarkable film of the pious sort, while many conservative Catholics rejected it as dangerously heterodox for its portrait of Jesus’ limited human knowledge (more on this controversy).
Despite this, I remain convinced that “The Young Messiah” is a better and more interesting film than it’s been given credit for, though perhaps its appeal is more limited than I had hoped.

(My bolding).

[lasue]

I really liked this movie. The acting, writing, and story are very interesting and different than most films that are made today. This is
like the movies they made in the 50's, slower paced with a lot of dialogue. So by the end of the film you really feel like you know these people. Mary's mother and Joseph's bother add more layers of family life to this story. Sadly I think most people are unwilling to see
Jesus as anything other than the way they were both up in their religion to see him. Are they afraid to have NEW IDEAS about him ??