Salvation Boulevard [DVD]

"I am the anointed servant of God and I tell you to be silent!" Deadhead turned born-again-Christian Carl (Kinnear) is friends with the pastor of his local mega-church Dan Day (Brosnan) and is invited to accompany him to scientist Dr. Paul Blaylock's (Harris) house for a discussion. When a terrible accident happens Carl finds himself fingered in the incident and does everything he can to prove he is innocent. Things aren't always easy though. Having never seen a preview for this I was excited for this based off the cast alone. While I will say this is a good movie and a very dark comedy I was a little disappointed. The main flaw this had was that the movie had a good idea but had only ten minutes of it. There was a lot of repeating going on and a few scenes that seemed like they were only put in to increase the running time. I have to say that Brosnan and Kinnear played very similar parts to the ones they played in "The Matador" (which is a better movie) but it seems to fit them. It may sound like I'm bashing this movie. I don't mean to if that's how it comes off. I did enjoy it and laughed a few times but based off the cast I was a little disappointed (but after movies like "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" and "Son Of No One" I need to stop thinking just because the cast is great means the movie will be great.) Overall, a decent dark comedy that is worth watching but tone down your expectations. I give it a B-.

Purchased this flic for $1.99 on sale not knowing what to expect. While watching the opening credits I saw Marisa Tomei was in it (I love her). Was very pleasantly suprized by the movie and the plot, this is not a movie for the hard core "reborn" christian audience as it pokes fun at the whole televangalist world. Religious insanity is the theme and it is done amazingly well and is very, very funny. Cannot say much more without being a spoiler but as they used to say in the Life cereal commercials "try it you will like it".

Watching Salvation Boulevard, I realized that satire was never going to be the funniest form of comedy. Ever since Swift penned A Modest Proposal, whatever laughs there are in these dark artistic works have been nervous and mixed with horror and revulsion.

So it is with "Salvation Boulevard," not the darkest comedy I've ever seen, but plenty dark, disturbing, and sometimes violent. But in the service of deflating piety, hypocrisy, and egomania, the atmosphere feels entirely appropriate.

The movie starts with a debate between Pastor Dan Day (Pierce Brosnan) and atheist Peter Blaylock (Ed Harris). Having watched similar debates between various clerics and religious apologists and the likes Richard Dawkins and the late, great Christopher Hitchens, the script and direction gets the tone mostly right and mines the hubris and false confidence (of both parties) for laughs. The scene also serves to introduce us to most of the key characters, including Carl Vanderveer (Greg Kinnear), a former Deadhead who has had a radical conversion to an evangelical form of Christianity and married a seemingly holy woman, who has a saner-than-she-should be teen daughter.

Not nearly as broad as "Saved!"--a satire in a similar vein--"Boulevard" deals with Pastor Dan accidentally shooting atheist Blaylock (which rather than killing him, puts him in a coma) and trying to pin the shooting on Carl. Because all of this happens within the opening minutes of the movie, no spoiler alert was called for, but from that point on the surprises begin to stack up and to say more would be to rob the reader of those moments of shock and humor. Suffice to say that contemporary Christianity as practiced by celebrity mega-church leadership and attendees comes in for some well-deserved parody.

To any person of faith tempted to cry foul and offer "Boulevard" as just one more example of Christianity coming under unfair fire in America, I would say that not a week goes by that a new Christian movie doesn't show up in Red Box rental kiosks or the local megaplexes, so your privilege is still intact; and if you don't like being made fun of, start acting to drive the clowns and con artists from your midst. Is making fun of Christian hypocrisy like shooting fish in a barrel? Hell yes, and it's because sincere, honest people of faith don't do all they can to shut up people like Jack Van Impe, the idiots on Trinity Broadcasting, and the various charlatans and faith healers who ply their craft over the airwaves and in opulent cathedrals. If you were to criticize these sickening, slick shysters as thoroughly as they deserve, there might be less ammunition left for those of us who don't share your faith.

As it stands, there is a need for movies like "Salvation Boulevard," to remind us--votaries and infidels alike--that the human condition is more complex and absurd than any single worldview can accommodate, and among the worst ideas for addressing that condition is religion.