Seeking out Redemption in the Beautiful World of Film. or My Excuse to Write About Movies

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Righteous Kill

We finally have DeNiro and Pacino in a film together again (Heat was the first and only in which they appeared on screen together). Righteous Kill follows the story of two detectives who are on the trail of a killer who is whacking "bad people." Usually the killer finds someone who just got acquitted for a horrible crime because of faulty evidence but should be behind bars. We all secretly, or openly, have a deisre for justice to be done to the people who are ruining others' lives. This is a well worn idea in Hollywood especially, where all our fantasies are played out (think Boondock Saints, or The Brave One).

We all know that some people just "deserve to die." And maybe at first glance they do, but we must be very careful about are presuppositions. When we decide who lives and dies, we play God. We have to realize that. The Bible says "Vengeance is mine, says the LORD." We must trust Him to be the one that will handle justice, and handle it perfectly. We have to find solace in that. Yet it is hard when people are doing really horrible things to each other. [As I am writing this I am almost sure I have written the exact same thing in a few other blogs. Definitely one of Hollywood's favorite fantasies to play on].

Righteous Kill is a pretty straight-forward crime drama. It's got guns, good guys, bad guys, mysetry, twists and turns, clues, etc. And it has two of the master-actors on the planet. It was enjoyable. Yet, it left a lot to be desired. I guess with a cast like that I was expecting a lot more. It was predicable in many places as well. If you are really itching to see Bobby and Al together, I do highly recommend Heat. And if you are in the mood to maybe feel what it's like to be the "hand of God's judgment" (which is pretty arrogant, really) and delve into what that actually means, you may want to check out Boondock Saints or even Se7en instead.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Traitor

Denver's own Don Cheadle stars in Traitor, a film about terrorism and Islam. Cheadle plays Samir Horn, a Sudanese man who has moved around a lot in life. He has lately found himself with some rather unsavory people in Yemen. He ends up being recruited by terrorists as a bomber (he's quite adept with his hands). Meanwhile, the U.S. is investigating a threat. After a few bombings by this cell in Europe, the FBI (including Guy Pierce) gets intel that points to America as the next target.

Traitor puts the debate about Islam front and center. I have to admit I wish I knew more about Islam. I have studied it, but have not as yet read the Qur'an for myself. Some people believe that all Muslims are terrorists. Obviously that is not true. We shouldn't generalize. Yet, there are some passages in their scripture that could definitely be interpreted as hostile and violent. But couldn't we interpret some of our own Scripture for bad purposes too (to justify slavery, for example?) So where do we draw the line in terms of what a holy book says? This film made me want to learn more because it has "good Muslims" and "bad Muslims" who come into conflict. In order to understand our world's political situations, we have to understand Islam. We have to look at Muslims as human beings, created by God, looking for truth, looking for a being to honor and respect. We cannot continue to look on them as psychos. And we as Christians must also get to the point where we can understand someone and still be alright with disagreeing with them.

Another thought that has been stewing in my head centers around humiliation. I believe that humiliation is the most dangerous human emotion. Many terrorists have been humiliated by the Western world. Humiliation takes away human dignity and respect, and leaves a man desperate, with nothing to lose. We have to be careful with this emotion, and try to never let this be the result of our own actions. Also, we must be careful not to fall into this trap when we ourselves have been slighted. The answer for this, as with many things in life, is to remember who God says we are (as opposed to who others say we are).

This film succeeded through a very well written plot with quite a few great twists. It is both exciting and intellectual interesting. It is entertaining, while still presenting us with great questions to ask. It helps us learn to not judge the proverbial book by the cover. The tagline sums up the film well: "The truth is complicated." Indeed. Not only in regards to this specific tale of terror and fear, but also in regards to the subjects (Islam and terrorism) as a whole. We cannot continue to see these issues so simply.