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film reviews: Four holidays, Doubt, Gran Torino, Pink Panther 2

I’ve fallen badly behind in posting on the blog my film reviews. The assignment: 500 words, monthly, offering a Christian perspective on contemporary film, paid, for Touchstone (Methodist) denominational magazine. Here are my 2009 reviews for the year to date.

Four Holidays. As we light Advent candles, so does Hollywood, trying to dazzle us, not with hope, peace, joy and love, but with Bad Santa (2003), Polar Express (2004), Deck the Halls (2006) or Fred Claus (2007). This year’s Christmas cracker, Four Holidays, gave little bang for its buck … for more.

Doubt. Doubt has always suffered an uneasy existence among people of faith. Even after the resurrection of Jesus, the disciples of Jesus are divided between worship and doubt Matthew 28:17). For Frederick Buechner, “Doubt is the ants in the pants of faith, it keeps it alive and moving.” Yet the space between pants and skin is never for the faint hearted. In this space enters Doubt … for more.

Gran Torino. In the downhill journey to Easter, a central figure is Caiphas, the Jewish high priest, who announces that it is better that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish (John 11:50). Such understandings, of the power of sacrifice to ensure community transformation, are ingrained in Christian faith and make Gran Torino a gritty contemporary exploration of these themes in our world today … for more.

Pink Panther 2. The Pink Panther is back, and the return is welcome … for more.