Paul: Apostle of Christ with Video Review

Let me make something clear from the very outset, I am normally very critical of Christian based films because they are simply not that well done and are made in a lackluster, embarrassing way. As a follower of Jesus as a person of faith, I strongly believe that films made by followers of Jesus should be done in an exceptional way, be it by the story, film quality or whatever as I could go on. Unfortunately, over the years, the overwhelming majority of films made by Christians have been garbage! There, I said it and that elephant is out of the room. That said, I find myself finding a great deal of pleasure in sharing my review of Paul, An Apostle of Christ.

There is something unique about the intro to this review. I have been doing reviews for approaching 40 years now. This is the first one I can recall primarily for Christians or followers of Jesus. That said, I hope those who are not followers of Jesus will appreciate my review and comments and that something can be garnished from it.

Paul: Apostle of Christ from a historical and faith perspective is tremendous and is in my opinion, right from the get go, possibly the most important and best Christian themed movie since The Passion of Christ which stared Jim Caviezel as Jesus Christ. In Paul: An Apostle of Christ, Caviezel plays the part of Luke the Doctor magnificently. Luke was a doctor who shortly after the death of Christ became a leader in the Christian Church. He wrote several books of Scripture of which the most well known may be the Christmas Story which most people around the world are familiar with. He also became a companion of Paul. Luke felt it was important to write down the thoughts and teachings of Paul while he was imprisoned by Rome. It is the later part of this description that this movie surrounds itself.

Jim Caviezel does his usual fabulous job of portraying a loving, mild mannered and caring individual. There are few actors who can portray this type of role which Caviezel has banked on. Even in the television show, A Person of Interest where he played a type of secret government operative undercover agent well trained in martial arts, firearms and so forth, he had that calm, easy going demeanor. Caviezel is as brilliant as ever in Paul: Apostle of Christ.

The quality of acting doesn't stop with Caviezel, while he has the primary role in the movie, the movies namesake, Paul is played beautifully by James Faulkner,  Faulkner featured in such programs as Atomic Blonde, Game of Thrones, Da Vinci's Demons, Downtown Abbey, and Underworld: Blood Wars among others is also terrific. He does an incredible job at presenting a beaten down, imprisoned, yet loving compassionate Apostle Paul. It is his portrayal and the writing that has this movie having the potential for such a terrific impact.

There are other notable portrayals in Paul: Apostle of Christ but the acting isn't the only thing to take notice of. The sets used, location, cinematography, direction by Andrew Hyatt who also co wrote the story, are terrific. In many ways, Paul: Apostle of Christ should be the model that "Christian Themed" or "Faith Based" movies should pattern themselves after. The quality of the production in this film is one that anyone can watch and easily understand my assumption about the disappointments of other so called "faith-based" films.

The power of Paul: Apostle of Christ isn't all of the above mentioned technical and acting concepts, the power of the movie is it's story and the possibility to get those who call themselves followers of Jesus to think about in regards to the current political situation in our world where it seems to be an appropriate thing to blend faith and politics, especially with an impression that seems to show compromise in the concepts of ones faith.

I truly appreciated the message that clearly shows the teachings of Jesus and presents a perspective from the Apostle Paul, (the author of most of the New Testament.) The concepts presented with a heavy dose of a hard to taste castor oil is done so largely with teachings directly out of the Bible with direct quotes. Blended in and mixed with that is a fairly historically accurate representation of what was going on in the early church shortly after the crucifixion of Jesus. The message of the tyrannical Roman Government and what they were doing to the earlier followers of Jesus is critical to understanding as to my conclusions as to what Christians and followers of Jesus can learn from this film. While it is easy to be a nationalistic follower of your nation, to call yourself a follower of Jesus demands a following not of your nation but instead, the teachings of Jesus. Paul clearly understood this concept as he was a man who was in a unique position of being a Jew, yet also a citizen of Rome. He understood as one who had made a drastic change, as one who had been responsible for multitudes of deaths of Christians but also one who came to passionately loved Jesus. Despite what issues we face in our world, in our society's they pale in comparison to what Jews and Christians faced under Rome.

It will be interesting to see the view of this film from those who have blended politics and faith. I imagine many will be critical of the love even your enemies, to be non resistant and so forth approach the movie takes. I doubt however that many of those who are critical of this approach will have an easy time debating their points with scripture, especially when it comes to the concepts of loving others not just from a Biblical view but also from a historical view of which Paul: Apostle of Christ does a very good job of presenting. If God is truly the same yesterday, today, and forever, then the approaches that many use to justify their actions of being so nationalistic could have also been used by Paul and the earlier followers in the early church, but as we know, they weren't.

I don't believe a "Faith-Based," film has had the potential to have as much impact on encouraging followers of Jesus since The Passion of the Christ. Paul: Apostle of Christ is a movie that has a perfect release week, prior to Easter, to challenge its audience about knowing and following the teachings of the Jesus as presented by Paul in this movie. I can imagine 2001 excuses to disregard this review but I know the impact the movie had on me. As stated I know it is easy to mix faith and politics, especially in today's world, especially in America. This movie was for me though, a powerful reminder of why it is ultimately the teachings of Jesus that I need to look at, and when I do that, I will be challenged because following the teachings of Jesus will not be easy, to follow them though is necessary if I want to carry the name Jesus, (Christian,) which means in many ways, "Little Jesus." 

While I strongly recommend this movie for all audiences, I especially recommend it for those who say they are followers of Jesus and among them, those who think they know the story of Paul. Paul: Apostle of Christ shows us in many ways, more realistically than ever, the relationship between Paul and Christ followers, Paul and Timothy, and ultimately, what the relationship that those of us who call ourselves followers of Jesus should have between ourselves and Jesus the Christ, Savior of the World.

On a scale of 1 - 10, there are a few bits of the film that is a tad boring, but not much, just enough to keep it from being perfect.  Therefore when you add the letters in the name Luke and Paul I give it a very deserving, very good, well worth watching 8, bordering on a 9.

To view the trailer for this movie, click on the link or video, our video review of the movie also follows:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC4_0YV4q8U&feature=youtu.be


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyOqQZUDdO4




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