A long haul of a film about Jesus from Martin Scorsese. This was a personal project for him and it got him into a lot of trouble, as he focused on the more secular aspects of the life of Christ. This was pretty unfair criticism of The Last Temptation of Christ. Scorsese certainly didn't turn the film into some sick sex and drugs fest.
A more fair criticism would have been was that the film was really boring.
The film does sort of follow the life of Christ. But there are a lot of scenes of people aimlessly wandering around the desert for what seems like very little purpose. A lot of the theological arguments in the film could have been just as easily played in a Caribou or Starbucks with a bunch of seminary students having coffee rather than having people standing around in the middle of nowhere.
There are a few laughs to be had with the casting of the film. William DaFoe and Harvey Keitel with their New York accents are Jesus and and his good buddy Judas. Judas spends a lot of time yelling at Jesus to do the right thing and get on with this Messiah business instead of sitting around drowning in all his angst ridden doubt about himself. Their scenes together are like listening to a couple of Yankees fans argue about the baseball season.
The fact that Scorsese got funding at all for such a hot button film is a tribute to his ability to get it made at any cost. Unfortunately the film probably wasn't worth his time or the amount or crap he took over it.
If you want to read about the life of Christ, I would recommend the Gospel According to John, it's the shortest book in the New Testament.
164 minutes.
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