I had to see Lou Ferrigno fight Andy Dick. This could not be a missed opportunity. So, in one quick evening, it was watched. Chuckles happened, funny moments were remembered, and, alas, this film won't be watched again. "
and God Spoke" has a great concept, a dedicated cast, but where it falls short is the potential. The idea of making a grandiose big-budget feature of "The Bible" is comic genius, and our two guides through this project, Michael Riley and Stephen Rappaport, are perfect as the producer/director pair. What makes "
and God Spoke" work is that it takes you from pre-production of this epic disaster all the way through distribution and finally reaching the status it deserves. Typically, with a film like this, it ends on a goofy note that is both unbelievable and sappy, but this one will remind the viewer of any cult phenomenon and what steps needed to happen (or stories) to allow it to reach such proportions. It has been said that this film carries quite a cult standing in LA and the film regions of California due to how it shows the interaction of all levels on a film set. The arguing of an AD to the obnoxious behavior of the crew, this film apparently does a great job of showing the detailed background of film production. For this, I applaud "
and God Spoke". It is a dedicated comedy that tries hard to force the laugh, genuinely does at most points, but remains true to the finer points of the story.
As mentioned before, " and God Spoke" is a decent entry into the mockumentary category for 1993, but alas, it has not held up well over time. With the birth of Christopher Guest, and his growing popularity with mimic B-films, coupled with instant classics like "This is Spinal Tap", you can literally drop your hand into the hypothetical film bowl and pull one out every time. It either has to be completely indie-cult in today's terms or so "big-name" (i.e. Guest's cronies or David Wain's group) for it to stick and stay. " and God Spoke" seemed to have that potential, but used backwards thinking which ultimately hurt the overall picture. They used smaller names, of which had trouble being "funny" on camera, and instead of laughing I found myself just chuckling at the thick comedy. Because of the lack of quality with the actors and the jokes, the presentation was drowning and hurting the film. There were funny moments, but what made me chuckle the most were not the actors (sorry, the AD Michael Hitchcock, a Guest regular, was the only one giving 100%), but the ideas behind the story. The zany mistakes that these two professionals were creating were funny, the cinematographer was not funny, but the fact that he idolized Bergman was funny. The actors playing Adam & Eve, or even Jesus for that matter, were not funny, but the situations they were placed in were funny. Their costumes were funny, their special effects were funny, their placement into the film was funny, but they the actors themselves were not as funny as they could be. Andy Dick is funny, but he seemed to be swimming in a shallow pool with this film. Soupy well I don't even think he knew what he was doing in this film.
What was most enjoyable about this film was the ending. Without giving it away, I liked the direction that " and God Spoke" pushed itself into. There could have been a very dark element looming overhead near the end, but instead it really demonstrated the birth of something different. One could watch this film and question if "Donnie Darko" fell prey to similar stories during its production, and now see where it is today. It was almost like watching the birth of "cult". Again, there were elements in this film that made me laugh, and I will always remember the fight over how many apostles there were and how that final scene of Jesus in the water was cut these were funny moments. I just wish the actors pushed their characters a bit more. One could argue that there were no defined characters, but outside of Rappaport and Riley, the others just walked through hoping the audience would continue to laugh, even though their comedy button was obviously in the "off" position.
Overall, I was neutral about this film. I laughed. I chuckled. I watched all 80+ minutes of this film, but I don't think I could do it again. " and God Spoke" begins with a running start, but finishes with a brisk walk. It had concepts that were hysterically funny if put with better composed comedy actors, but those involved either didn't understand the full purpose of the picture, or were just trying to upscale those in the scenes before. There was a lack of conformity between everyone, and it blasted through the screen as I watched. Did it want to be a mockumentary or something in the same category as "Kentucky Fried Movie" the world may never know. On the other side, there are moments that will keep me chuckling for days (Noah's complaining about the animals, Jesus walking on water), but there were other moments that just seemed more like "ugh" instead of comedy. I blame a bit of this one time and expansion of the style of this film. It doesn't stand us as well over the past 14 years, and Guest has taken it to a new level. I couldn't personally watch it again, but could suggest a friend or two to pick it up. Watch it, but don't expect to love it. I can see the cult following, but it is more regionalized.
Grade: ** out of *****
As mentioned before, " and God Spoke" is a decent entry into the mockumentary category for 1993, but alas, it has not held up well over time. With the birth of Christopher Guest, and his growing popularity with mimic B-films, coupled with instant classics like "This is Spinal Tap", you can literally drop your hand into the hypothetical film bowl and pull one out every time. It either has to be completely indie-cult in today's terms or so "big-name" (i.e. Guest's cronies or David Wain's group) for it to stick and stay. " and God Spoke" seemed to have that potential, but used backwards thinking which ultimately hurt the overall picture. They used smaller names, of which had trouble being "funny" on camera, and instead of laughing I found myself just chuckling at the thick comedy. Because of the lack of quality with the actors and the jokes, the presentation was drowning and hurting the film. There were funny moments, but what made me chuckle the most were not the actors (sorry, the AD Michael Hitchcock, a Guest regular, was the only one giving 100%), but the ideas behind the story. The zany mistakes that these two professionals were creating were funny, the cinematographer was not funny, but the fact that he idolized Bergman was funny. The actors playing Adam & Eve, or even Jesus for that matter, were not funny, but the situations they were placed in were funny. Their costumes were funny, their special effects were funny, their placement into the film was funny, but they the actors themselves were not as funny as they could be. Andy Dick is funny, but he seemed to be swimming in a shallow pool with this film. Soupy well I don't even think he knew what he was doing in this film.
What was most enjoyable about this film was the ending. Without giving it away, I liked the direction that " and God Spoke" pushed itself into. There could have been a very dark element looming overhead near the end, but instead it really demonstrated the birth of something different. One could watch this film and question if "Donnie Darko" fell prey to similar stories during its production, and now see where it is today. It was almost like watching the birth of "cult". Again, there were elements in this film that made me laugh, and I will always remember the fight over how many apostles there were and how that final scene of Jesus in the water was cut these were funny moments. I just wish the actors pushed their characters a bit more. One could argue that there were no defined characters, but outside of Rappaport and Riley, the others just walked through hoping the audience would continue to laugh, even though their comedy button was obviously in the "off" position.
Overall, I was neutral about this film. I laughed. I chuckled. I watched all 80+ minutes of this film, but I don't think I could do it again. " and God Spoke" begins with a running start, but finishes with a brisk walk. It had concepts that were hysterically funny if put with better composed comedy actors, but those involved either didn't understand the full purpose of the picture, or were just trying to upscale those in the scenes before. There was a lack of conformity between everyone, and it blasted through the screen as I watched. Did it want to be a mockumentary or something in the same category as "Kentucky Fried Movie" the world may never know. On the other side, there are moments that will keep me chuckling for days (Noah's complaining about the animals, Jesus walking on water), but there were other moments that just seemed more like "ugh" instead of comedy. I blame a bit of this one time and expansion of the style of this film. It doesn't stand us as well over the past 14 years, and Guest has taken it to a new level. I couldn't personally watch it again, but could suggest a friend or two to pick it up. Watch it, but don't expect to love it. I can see the cult following, but it is more regionalized.
Grade: ** out of *****