Left Behind
Directed by: Vic Armstrong
Written by: Paul Lalonde and John Patus - based on the novel by Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Chad Michael Murray, Cassie Thomson, Nicky Whelan, Jordin Sparks, Lea Thompson, Martin Klebba, Quinton Aaron, Gary Grubbs, Lance E. Nichols, Alec Rayme, Major Dodson
Action/Sci-Fi/Thriller - 110 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 29 Sep 2014
Written by: Paul Lalonde and John Patus - based on the novel by Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Chad Michael Murray, Cassie Thomson, Nicky Whelan, Jordin Sparks, Lea Thompson, Martin Klebba, Quinton Aaron, Gary Grubbs, Lance E. Nichols, Alec Rayme, Major Dodson
Action/Sci-Fi/Thriller - 110 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 29 Sep 2014
It does not matter whether or not you believe in The Rapture to conclude the latest reboot of the Left Behind series is an example of some awful filmmaking. The special effects belong on the SyFy channel, the dialogue is ridiculous, and even the camera placement doesn’t work in what are supposed to be routine conversational scenes. The idea behind what happens to those stuck on Earth after the true believers are whooshed off to heaven is intriguing. Will society break down and if so, how fast? Would the unbelievers and the unrepentant blame aliens, a government conspiracy, or the Book of Revelations for the disappearances? The new Left Behind attempts to answer these questions focusing on members of the same family and their experiences running around Long Island or trapped in a jet airliner with panicked passengers. Left Behind is also one of the worst films of the year. It is an assault on your patience and rational sanity and should be ignored by any and all true believers and their more agnostic brethren.
On the day of The Rapture, college student Chloe Steele (Cassi Thomson) flies home to surprise her dad on his birthday. Dad, pilot Rayford Steele (Nicolas Cage), gets called into work unexpectedly to fly to London and runs into his daughter in the airport. It is apparent to both of them dad is busted trying to conduct an affair with a stewardess because he is estranged from his born again, scripture spouting wife, Irene Steele (Lea Thompson). The best example of the film’s atrocious camera work takes place during Chloe and Ray’s awkward and much too frank discussion. With the pair seated at a coffee shop table, a couple dozen passengers stumble and maneuver between the camera and the subjects. We already understand the setting is a busy airport. There is absolutely no reason to continually block the actors with unnecessary extras and their luggage. It is distracting, we lose focus on whatever nonsense words are being exchanged between father and daughter, and it is far too obvious that the only other recognizable credit for director Vic Armstrong is an episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles from 1992.
On the day of The Rapture, college student Chloe Steele (Cassi Thomson) flies home to surprise her dad on his birthday. Dad, pilot Rayford Steele (Nicolas Cage), gets called into work unexpectedly to fly to London and runs into his daughter in the airport. It is apparent to both of them dad is busted trying to conduct an affair with a stewardess because he is estranged from his born again, scripture spouting wife, Irene Steele (Lea Thompson). The best example of the film’s atrocious camera work takes place during Chloe and Ray’s awkward and much too frank discussion. With the pair seated at a coffee shop table, a couple dozen passengers stumble and maneuver between the camera and the subjects. We already understand the setting is a busy airport. There is absolutely no reason to continually block the actors with unnecessary extras and their luggage. It is distracting, we lose focus on whatever nonsense words are being exchanged between father and daughter, and it is far too obvious that the only other recognizable credit for director Vic Armstrong is an episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles from 1992.
There are a hundred other relatively small missteps which all add up to one big mess. A passenger walks into the cockpit right after he boards the aircraft, there is a jump scare when a telephone rings, the soundtrack switches to chanting monks when a character walks into a church, and Chloe’s brother has the honor of the movie’s worst line, “Did you get me anything from the airport? The brand new baseball glove I’ve been asking for!” Come on kid, from the airport? My favorite bit is when Chloe gets so upset she picks up a soft cover Bible and hurls it through a window shattering the glass. Do you know the velocity one must achieve for a soft cover book to smash straight through what looks like a double-paned window? Just because the film’s subject deals with what cannot be seen and faith, it does not mean physics should be left with the unbelievers as well.
Left Behind is adapted from the first novel in a 16 novel series. I have not read any of them but I hope the theology behind the disappearances is covered in greater detail than it is in the film. What The Rapture is and who gets to go and why are hardly discussed. I also noted the observant Muslim gets left behind as well, bummer for that guy. When The Rapture finally happens, the saved disappear in what looks like a sonic boom. Their clothes and jewelry stay behind. Chloe spends the rest of the day checking hospitals and parking lots for her brother even though he disappeared in the midst of a hug and left all of his clothes in her arms. Oh, and Chloe’s mom takes a shower with an awful lot of jewelry on.
What is Nicolas Cage doing in this movie? Check out the movie poster and look at his face; even he has no idea how he wound up headlining such an awful film, even by his recent low standards. The only thing worse than the briefly discussed seven years of fire and brimstone ahead of these characters is if there is a sequel lined up after Left Behind.
What is Nicolas Cage doing in this movie? Check out the movie poster and look at his face; even he has no idea how he wound up headlining such an awful film, even by his recent low standards. The only thing worse than the briefly discussed seven years of fire and brimstone ahead of these characters is if there is a sequel lined up after Left Behind.
Comment Box is loading comments...
