Delayed Reaction: The Last Temptation of Christ

The Pitch: Who wants to piss off some religious groups?

This is the first of Scorsese's religious reflection trilogy along with 1997's Kundun and this year's Silence. While it's by no means my favorite of his movies, it may be the most interesting. Released between The Color of Money and Goodfellas, I'm not sure what drove him to the project. That's the fun of Scorsese. He follows his whimsy sometimes. That's how you get Hugo, which I adore.

This is a very interesting take on Jesus as a man. It tries to keep his divinity while forgetting his perfection, which, narratively, is more engaging. The last time I remember so much of the third act of a movie being devoted to a thought-bubble scenario was the last Twilight movie. This was a lot better than that. Willem Dafoe does some great, conflicted work (ignoring the whole White Jesus aspect of it), and I loved how everything is a little off about the film. It never feels settled. There's strange cuts and shots that keep it uneven, like Satan's mind games are being played on us as much as Jesus. This is one of those highly imperfect movies that I'm likely to revisit at some point, just to figure it out.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend