Bless the Child

Bless the Child was a good movie. I have to admit that when this movie came to theatres, it was one of the few times that negative reviews kept me from seeing a movie. After watching the DVD last night, I was kicking myself for missing a chance to see this movie a year earlier.

Bless the child is full of new or unknown actors, but reguardless it is well acted... Kim Basinger and Jimmy Smits both play their parts well and the script and their acting allows the viewer to see something that may be chemistry building between the two, but doesn't throw it in our faces. The problem with most movies of this type is that the villian is flat and poorly acted... That is not the case in Bless the Child. Rufus Sewell does an excellent job portraying the evil Eric Stark. Although she has a nominal part in the movie, Angela Bettis played the part of Maggies drug-addicted sister so well, I was absolutely hating her. Even with all of this, the movie would not be what it is without the superb acting of Holliston Coleman who plays 6-year-old Cody. At 7, Holliston has more ability than many adult actors. She definately has a future.

The story and directing were both done well. Although it is not the most original story line, it is done a different way. Rarely, if ever, is the force of good allowed to manifest itself in a visible presence. In Bless the Child, however, the good can be seen along with the evil. Although I not by any means a very religious person, this struck a cord with me. There's a sense of hope within this growing evil... The world may just have a chance, not because a big guy with a big gun blew away Satan... no, because there is good out there. The battle between good and evil does have two sides... It's just nice to be able to see the good for a change.

The special effects are also good in this movie. It is by far a special effects movie, but they are used in a smart fashion to provide a glimpse at the battle that goes on all around us, although we don't see it... Only the rat bedroom sequence left me somewhat disappointed, the rest provided a eery mood to the film.

Bless the Child is a great film for what it is and maybe be known as the starting point to the great career of Holliston Coleman. 8/10

Although it may not be a perfect movie,

Oh yay: Good vs. Evil. Light vs. Dark. God vs. Lucifer. Do we need another one of those? Not if it's of this weak calibre.

Look there's a child. Isn't she cute? She's `special'. She is a force for good but - oh no! - an evil man, Eric Stark, wants to take her to the dark side. By having this crucial girl on his side, he hopes to shift the power balance to the side of evil. Can the girl's aunt (who is change of her sister's daughter when the sister, a drug addict, left her at the doorstep) save the child? Will evil win? And will I care?

Script? Let's see those clichés - pack 'em in. Evil rats? Check! Old wicked nanny figure? Check! Soft-spoken-devil-figure-prone-to-angry-bouts? Check! Black garbed followers? Elite but mysterious group dedicated to God? It's a go! Flat dimensionless characters? We're going. It's all quite dull, and has been done better in many other such movies involving similar themes (`The Devil's Advocate' for one). There's a lack of tension - you know the outcome from the outset and I, quite correctly, picked out those marked for death and those for life. No surprises and lots of `oh whatever'.

Acting? I'm not sure why Bassinger selected this script (for the reasons above). Certainly she's the best thing here but she still seems tired and worn throughout the movie (never mind the fact her character often displays the common sense of a congenital idiot). Rufus Sewell - the force of evil - is the usual smiling, collected, sort that was far better portrayed by Pacino in `The Devil's Advocate' (and even by Gabriel Byrne in the weak `End of Days'). Christina Ricci puts in a nice small role here, but alas she's not on screen long enough for us to enjoy. As to the girl at the centre of the fight, the would-be-pawn of God. she's actually not that great (or at least wasn't created well). She smiles, gives an odd look, is quiet and so forth in an attempt to appear mysterious. I was not buying it, and found the whole act mundane. And Jimmy Smits, the detective helping Bassinger find her kid, looks like he walked straight off the set of 'NYPD Blue' so judge him from his work there.

`Bless the Child' is contrived and weak, adding nothing new to its genre in any shape or from. It's not quite dull but you do not care less about the characters (try as the cast might). It was not worth my time and it won't be worth yours. Don't bother. 2.5/10.

The devil resides in New York City and from the moment this film begins, we see exactly where this film is going. As the opening credits roll, its wonderful atmospheric start with its close-up night time shots of New York's gargoyles brings back memories of the great vampire movie Queen of the Damned (2002) and its visual introduction to its narrative.

With the arrival of The Star of Yacov, better known as The Christmas Star, once more in some two thousand years, we see childless Maggie O'Connor (Kim Basinger) taking on her younger sisters new born baby Cody, as Cody is dumped on her door step, this elder sister, this wise mature woman and now surrogate mother takes on full responsibility. Myth has it too that Saint Margaret the Virgin is known to be the Patron Saint of Pregnancy, and who, as legend would have it, was brought up by a nurse after her father disowned her, and having once met with the devil, with him in the form of a dragon. Irony and coincidence perhaps for both, considering her name being Maggie and her inability to have children and baby Cody's circumstance.

Dealing with this child and her seemingly autistic state, autism being a condition that is caused by a disorder that prevents the brain developing properly, this in turn can impair interaction both socially and emotionally. It isn't until she reaches six years of age that Maggie's worries slowly turn into fears of what exactly is wrong with this exceptional child. There are more than just physical and mental states at play here that are more than concerning and enlightening. Maggie's doubts and fears are soon to be tested, to and far beyond the boundaries of human restraint.

Bless the Child uses fables and myth to bring old legends to contemporary settings. With the killing of the innocent children to flush out the Prophecy, the way in which we see this being done is very subtle and coaxing, if a little disturbing, bringing an uncomfortable reality that something sinister, something malevolent, something lurking in the shadows and something extremely evil is all to ready to pounce. Here lies the winning formula, the evil that we see is not so much dark forces of the underworld, but be warned, they exist here too, it is more the evil of man and his willingness to be lead and be controlled by them. Man against man, sin against morality and the age-old battle of Light against the Darkness. We see Eric Stark and his followers taking parallel lines in the similar vain as the real life Satan and occult master Aleister "The Beast" Crowley (1875 - 1947), founder of The Golden Dawn, and once labelled "The Wickedest Man in the World". With Eric Stark renaming his cult The New Dawn Foundation, it is he who most certainly carries this trade of old evils and new Beasts to a tee. English born Rufus Sewell plays Stark with convincing zeal, with both phoney exterior compassion and charm to literally devil-may-care cold indifference, intermingling both persona's well enough to know that we are dealing with more than just the basic human traits that we see, hear and deal with in life. Evil, as it seems holds no bounds.

Kim Basinger and Holliston Coleman (born 1992) bond very well, and a great performance as surrogate mother, she plays her role with devotion and with an honest and convincing feel. With just three years after winning her Best Actress in a Supporting Role for L.A. Confidential, this isn't Ms. Basinger going down a peg but raising the stakes in this thriller horror movie genre. Her integrity is most certainly kept in tact, and this is with the assistance of one Chuck Russell, director of A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), The Blob (1988), The Mask (1994) and The Scorpion King (2002). A fine team they make, and as with the gelling of the two leading ladies, it is his fine work in crafting young Holliston Coleman to a standard of high-end child acting. Expect to see more of this young girl. Especially, if she were to take the good advice from the ever professional and independently versatile actress Christina Ricci as the heroin addict Cheri Post, which is always a pleasure to see her working.

Bless the child also has its own parallels too, and lends itself to the likes of The Omen (1976), The Exorcist (1973) and the 1968 Roman Polanski film Rosemary's Baby, where we see children as axis of evils', Bless the Child sees the innocence and purity that is The Child; untainted and undemanding. Thus bearing the special gift of Life and the blessing of Divinity, sometimes disturbing, but slight, and at times touching, but never over demanding and horrific, which sets this movie of as being different and a little unique.

With moderate violence and with the help of a little CGI, a script that fights its own ground when in the amphitheatres of right and wrong, excellent and well cast, we can then be assured that Bless the Child most certainly has not been cursed.

I have been going to the movies for 55 years now. And I have been writing novels for nearly 30 years, with 38 published thus far. One of my favorite genres as a moviegoer is the horror thriller, which is one in which I have written also, usually within a Christian context.

BLESS THE CHILD is unquestionably one of the finest genre movies I have ever seen, the kind that combine Christian themes and thriller techniques. I like it because it is relatively subdued, with sincere underplayed acting, and a minimum of Hollywood hocus-pocus.

The themes are:

1) The triumph of God over the devil, instead of the reverse. 2) The power of prayer. 3) The depiction of angels of light. 4) Brief but effective moments when demonic creatures, normally in an unseen supernatural existence, are revealed starkly. 5) No attempt to make evil seem other than loathsome, destructive. 6) Child-like faith enables us to resist Satan.

The direction by Chuck Russell was excellent, involving; no wonder he came close to directing the screen version of THIS PRESENT DARKNESS. There was almost no foul language, and the brutal episodes were less in number than usual.

I notice the Christian moments were referred to as "propaganda". Why is it propaganda when biblical references are used but not propaganda when humanism, nihilism, abortion, homosexuality, adultery and such are similarly promoted?

I showed BLESS THE CHILD to a neighbor couple, folks who are not especially religious. They were enthralled by it, reacting nervously when the suspense is intensified, rejoicing at the more inspiring moments.

BLESS THE CHILD is not a toweringly great movie but, rather, an intensely reverent one, directed with intelligence, acted with conviction, without nude scenes, and thankfully lacking a tidal wave of vulgarity,

Roger Elwood

Jesus Christ must be spinning in his grave. I have never, ever, ever seen such a terrible religious movie. Scratch that, I don't think I've ever seen such a terrible movie...final. The beginning of the movie is so terrible, I felt like walking out after 10 minutes. The feed you information without even trying to have it make any sense. They rush you through over 5 years of important info in less that 15 minutes. And the plot. P.U. It's so cliche. Oh, dear, a little girl is born with incredible powers but, those powers can serve evil as well as good. Come on! Like I haven't heard that one a million times before. And at least the others managed to produce something interesting. As for the acting, I think its worse than the story. I don't know what Kim Basinger has been doing all these years, but she certainly hasn't been practising. She delivers such a monotonous performance, I had to check for my pulse a few times. Sometimes to no avail. I'm not saying it was all bad(I'm lying, it was). Some parts were partially interesting. But only for a total of 5 minutes. The rest is pure crap.

My rating: 2.3 on 10