2004, R, 126 minutes

Already one of the most talked about films of recent memory, The Passion of the Christ has created such a stir of controversy that it would be a disservice to the filmmakers to veer off course and get into any of the accusations that are being levied against the picture that do not deal with its artistic merits. Also, given the fact that I am neither a religious scholar nor a close personal friend of Mel Gibson, I feel it would be unjust for me to write about the accuracy of every little scene in Mr. Gibson's film, an unflinchingly detailed account of the final hours of Jesus Christ. Instead, I would like to review The Passion of the Christ based on what is on the screen, and nothing more.

Being born and raised Catholic, I am quite aware of the Passion play, the story concerning Jesus' crucifixion at the hands of nonbelievers, but I must honestly admit that no amount of Sunday afternoon bible classes could have prepared me for Gibson's adaptation. Once you are in your seat, you are put through a cinematic endurance test; watching a film so uncompromising in its vision that no matter how well intentioned the film is, it threatens to shock its own audience right out of the theater.

The images of torture and brutality in The Passion of the Christ are some of the most mind-numbing that have ever been put onto film. Sitting in the theater, watching Jesus have the flesh flayed from his body as blood spills all over the place in incredibly realistic detail, definitely gave me a perspective on just what this man went through in dying for our sins. But I couldn't help but wonder what someone who didn't have much of knowledge of Christianity would think about the movie. Would they understand the power of the images on screen or would they just be cursing the friend that brought them to this movie for making them witness some of the most horrific and vile atrocities depicted since Paolo Pasolini's 1975 shocker Salo?

Throughout the film, images of gore and violence are inter-cut with flashback scenes of Jesus with his disciples, and his holy teachings to them. The problem for me is that I don't think there are enough of these scenes in the film. Again, as a catholic, I am quite aware of the words of love and hope that Jesus spread to his flock, but I think it would have helped to balance the film thematically to include a few more of these scenes for the audience, if for no other reason than to heighten the impact of the amount of pain being inflicted on him. These flashback scenes of a loving, caring spiritual figure did more to convey the true power of Christ than to see him endure the 12 hours of torture at the hands of others, but Gibson seems to lose all focus in his need to depict every drop of blood falling off the torn and battered body of Jesus in what feels like real time.

This is where the film, for me at least, ultimately fails. By lingering so long on the blood and the gore, I couldn't help but become desensitized to the whole thing. My brain simply shut down when it could not take anymore of the images on the screen. No matter how spiritual I am or how strong my faith, I simply could not deal with the film any longer. Sure, I could take in the fact that Jesus was dying for all of man's sins, but I felt as if my mind was simply going through the motions of following along with the movie, so stunned by what it has seen that it simply wants to keep moving and get to the end. Would I feel differently if there were more messages of the love that Jesus had for his followers interspersed throughout the film? Yes, I am almost certain I would have walked out of the theater feeling more of an impact of what Jesus went through, but by showing me almost nothing but pain and sorrow for two hours, I felt browbeaten by Gibson and his apparent idea that by making me squirm and flinch in my seat with every crack of the whip and every pound of the nail, I would have a better understanding of Christ's love for us.

So you get the point that this is a very, very violent film. It is not for the kids, and I wouldn't recommend it for the squeamish, no matter how strong of faith you are. And please don't think this review is anti-Gibson or anti-Catholic in any way. There are parts of this film I admire greatly, the acting of James Caviezel as Jesus is excellent. He really brings home the warmth and gentleness that one would always perceive the Lord as being (those of us who don't subscribe to the angry God thing that sometimes gets leveled at followers of Christianity). He acts extremely well through all the makeup and fake blood and gore that he wears most of the time. The makeup work of Keith Vanderlaan and Greg Cannom must also be commended. They have created some of the most frighteningly realistic stuff that has ever been seen in the wounds that cover Jesus' body. The music, composed by John Debney is also extremely well done; never overbearing but always in the background, adding power to the imagery.

If only the film's director could have taken some cues from his composer and understood that sometimes subtlety can go a long way. Instead, Gibson, no matter how true and noble his intentions were of making a tribute to his spiritual savior, has created a sometimes messy, sometimes cloudy, sometimes brilliant, but overall a personally disappointing take on the final hours of Jesus of Nazareth -- disappointing because in order to make it through, you must almost separate yourself mentally from the violence being inflicted on the story's main character, which in turn takes away the impact from the story itself. Also, if you don't have at least a little knowledge of the bible or the Passion play, you may be utterly lost in a sea of violent images with no idea what is happening at all. For those of us who already know the story of the Passion play, did we really need Gibson's unsettling vision to make us feel spiritually whole again? I truly hope that it inspires people to get back in touch with their faith and to become more involved with their religion. That would be, I suppose, the ultimate achievement for The Passion. I can only speak for myself, but I just had a hard time wiping away the haze of all the blood to make out what the film was saying to me personally.