Frequently Bought Together
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Product details
|
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I love this film. I first saw it in a lecture at college on how not to do church! Jonas Nightingale (Steve Martin) is hideously ruthless when it comes to making money out of people's misfortunes. However, when the greatest of scammers is seemingly outscammed it makes him pause for thought. A brilliant soundtrack and a thoroughly heartwarming film.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Steve Martin is someone I find is a bit hit or miss, usually more miss (e.g. Pink Panther). Yet, ever since I saw him years ago in an unexpectedly funny/good film; "The Man With Two Brains", a 4 star movie, he's someone I've wanted to find funny more than he actually is. (Can't explain why, must be some sort of psychological 'imprinting' going on!)
Anyhow, in this flick, Steve Martin departs from his typical 'idiot' roles. And he delves into the darker side of his character in a clever and very adept way and delivers a strong and very worthy performance as a quick talking, street smart hustler who sees religion as a nifty business to scam and get-rich-quick from. As he says; "if God exists, why did he make so many suckers?"
He plays 'Jonas Nightengale' a shallow, self-interested, self-obsessed and self-appointed 'minister'. 'What is my next conquest, who's holding my next buck' seems to be his motto. And yet, he's not so displeasing as you don't care for him, you learn bit by bit in subtle ways about things that made him the way he his and even though he displays narcissistic traits, you can't help but feel some sympathy for him. In this film Martin brims with confidence and charisma and it seems the territory has been made just for him, (and as a foot note to his agent, he should make more movies like this).
His primary and perfect foil is played by Debra Winger, his beautiful and equally cunning assistant; her character is a strong, smart, and sassy, and in essence she's the 'power behind the throne'. She also has a back-story which never truly gets developed but it's her passion for what she does that makes Jonas' success all the more believable.
Martin has a large entourage; a whole travelling gospel side-show, though not everybody is 'in' on his fake miracle-making tour, yet misfortune leads them to make an unplanned stop n stay, for four days, in a poor and previously unimportant town.
Never one to let a quick buck pass him by, Jonas decides to set up shop and let the show begin...
Liam Neeson (with a dodgy accent) plays the part of the town sheriff who sees through Jonas' "smoke and mirrors" routine and tries to warn the townsfolk... but they're too eager and in need of real miracles to care about reality... and then... that's when things start to get interesting...
I won't spoil the surprise ending, but the movie stays poignant and happily avoids the expected drop into slushiness.
I'd recommend this film to anyone from any background. Make your own leap of faith and order it now, you won't be disappointed.
Anyhow, in this flick, Steve Martin departs from his typical 'idiot' roles. And he delves into the darker side of his character in a clever and very adept way and delivers a strong and very worthy performance as a quick talking, street smart hustler who sees religion as a nifty business to scam and get-rich-quick from. As he says; "if God exists, why did he make so many suckers?"
He plays 'Jonas Nightengale' a shallow, self-interested, self-obsessed and self-appointed 'minister'. 'What is my next conquest, who's holding my next buck' seems to be his motto. And yet, he's not so displeasing as you don't care for him, you learn bit by bit in subtle ways about things that made him the way he his and even though he displays narcissistic traits, you can't help but feel some sympathy for him. In this film Martin brims with confidence and charisma and it seems the territory has been made just for him, (and as a foot note to his agent, he should make more movies like this).
His primary and perfect foil is played by Debra Winger, his beautiful and equally cunning assistant; her character is a strong, smart, and sassy, and in essence she's the 'power behind the throne'. She also has a back-story which never truly gets developed but it's her passion for what she does that makes Jonas' success all the more believable.
Martin has a large entourage; a whole travelling gospel side-show, though not everybody is 'in' on his fake miracle-making tour, yet misfortune leads them to make an unplanned stop n stay, for four days, in a poor and previously unimportant town.
Never one to let a quick buck pass him by, Jonas decides to set up shop and let the show begin...
Liam Neeson (with a dodgy accent) plays the part of the town sheriff who sees through Jonas' "smoke and mirrors" routine and tries to warn the townsfolk... but they're too eager and in need of real miracles to care about reality... and then... that's when things start to get interesting...
I won't spoil the surprise ending, but the movie stays poignant and happily avoids the expected drop into slushiness.
I'd recommend this film to anyone from any background. Make your own leap of faith and order it now, you won't be disappointed.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
If you haven't seen Leap of Faith, Go-get!!! Steve Martin is as usual talented, funny, convincing and a brilliant fraudster! He heads up a travelling "Faith Healing" team who visit god-forsaken American communities, performing miracles and healing the sick..............anymore and I would spoil the development of the story!! In true American style, we are left with a moral!
All thats needed from the viewer is a sense of humour!!
All thats needed from the viewer is a sense of humour!!
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Gloooop
I was hoping this film would be inspiring, but it wasn't. Cheesy, and even though the ending is allright, just doesn't feel very good. Read more
Published 23 days ago by C. Pechabadens
Man manipulates but God still steps in!
I enjoyed this DVD very much. Even though man is a manipulator and puts himself at the centre of the Universe God can still step in! Read more
Published 5 months ago by David
Leap of faith
Great Movie, well acted by Steve martin and co. Very funny take on the big money making evangelists in the US.
Published 10 months ago by Ken Green
Great film!
I'm a huge Steve Martin fan and so was never going to be disappointed by this film. It's great and has the advantage of having Meatloaf in it too. Read more
Published 11 months ago by funmummy
Welcome to the Business of Religion.
Steve Martin far too often represents the Lowest Common Denomintor for me as far as American humour is concerned. Read more
Published on 26 Aug 2009 by Anton Coy
Steve's "Leap!" of Faith
This film started out a parody on American "faith" preachers/evangelists, however it becomes more than that! Read more
Published on 3 May 2009 by M. Bletsoe
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
