Rewind, Review, and Re-Rate: ‘Infidel’: Muddled Messages in a Sorry Script
R | 1h 48min | Action, Adventure, Thriller | 18 September 2020 (USA)
When I first heard about the recent film “Infidel,” I thought that its premise sounded interesting enough. It bills itself as an action-thriller about an American man who is kidnapped after attending a speaking engagement in Cairo, and his wife then attempts to rescue him. I also noticed that it was produced by Dinesh D’Souza, who is not only a filmmaker but also a political commentator.
As a fellow filmmaker, I understand that political persuasions are likely to seep into a cinematic effort, especially when the topic comes from the political realm. That’s a given. But I found this one to simply be unpleasant and subpar as a film. One in which, sadly, Jim Caviezel’s more-than-capable acting skills are wasted.
The origin story: Every superhero gets one. We’ve returned to Smallville with Superman. We’ve seen Batman begin. We’ve watched Peter Parker get bitten by a radioactive spider in not one but two blockbuster franchises. Now, the archetypal superhero, Jesus Christ himself, gets the origin-story treatment in “The Young Messiah.”
It’s a novel approach to a story that’s been told a million times before based on a novel, actually, by Anne Rice titled “Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt.” “The Young Messiah” envisions what life might have been like for Jesus (Adam Greaves-Neal) as a seven-year-old boy who’s just beginning to understand his powers. In many ways, he’s like a regular kid. He likes to run around and play tag. He gets bullied. And like all little boys who love their mommies, he enjoys snuggling with Mary (Sara Lazzaro) and hearing her tell stories.