Salvation Boulevard

I gotta hand it to writer/director George Ratliff for being so bold. I'm not just talking about offending audiences. I'm saying if God does exist, then there's certainly a hot seat in store for Georgie Boy.

Actually I'm kidding. "Salvation Boulevard", while being unapologetically one-sided, isn't so offensive that religious folks can't laugh about it. I'd like to think it pokes fun at the hypocrisy of certain religious leaders, not religion itself.

But what do I know. I'm pacifist and yet I enjoyed Deathwish 1 thru 5.

Right off the bat, "Salvation Boulevard" gets points for its wacky, original plot. A celebrity televangelist, played by Pierce Brosnan, and a recently-converted (but thoroughly confused) ex-Deadhead, played by Greg Kinnear, get wrapped up in an unintentional crime against an atheist (Ed Norton). Due to a series of panicked, bad decisions, it just keeps getting deeper & deeper for both of them. Our hero, the Deadhead, is sort of an Everyman character who muddles his way through the madness without ever seeming to comprehend what's going on. Conversely, Brosnan the televangelist thinks he's in control, but his situation (and his moral fiber) rapidly unwind as he starts suffering from delusions that the Devil is hot on his trail.

Adding to the fun are some equally wacky characters: Marisa Tomei as the flaky retro-hippie girl, Jennifer Connelly as the insanely obsessed follower, Jim Gaffigan as the even-MORE-insanely obsessed follower (I'm talking "Terminator" obsessed), Yul Vazquez as the comically sinister Mexican crime boss, and a host of others thrown in.

"Salvation Boulevard" is a roller-coaster dark comedy that reminds me of the unknown gems "Grand Theft Parsons" (about 2 guys who decide to steal the body of famed musician Gram Parsons) and "Leaves of Grass" (about a hillbilly and his yuppie brother who get wrapped up in a crazy drug caper). And of course there's the classic oldie "Fletch Lives" (where Chevy Chase takes on a questionable TV ministry). All of these films are worth a watch and should get some lols out of everyone.

Film should've been better. Kinnear somewhat underplays a space case who somehow agrees to take the fall for an attempted murder that Brosnan's character commits, and then comes to has second thoughts about. Brosnan overplays the petulant and self righteous pastor. Both actors are two i've long thought of as nicely underrated actors in general--the chemistry between the two of them was so nice in 2005's "The Matador" that i was more than a little disappointed that the two of them spend the large majority of this film in their own separate plot lines and only have a limited amount of screen time together here. What you have here is a halfway decent set-up for some halfway decently thought up characters whom are all wasted in a messy barrage of scenes where one thing happens, then another, and then a third thing happens, but none of what happens means anything to any of the characters, and with the exception of maybe the increasingly anxious Kinnear--none of what is happening seems to mean anything to the actors playing them as well. This plot line and these characters probably made a lot more sense in the novel that this is based on...and i can see there is a solid raucous sense of humor going on in some scenes where the mechanics of the plot aren't in the way--like say Kinnear's handful of scenes with Marisa Tomei who's a spacey female interested in him.

Whenever i read something that i think would make a good movie i forget to take into account that when you're retelling someone else's story as a film you can't take into account the motives and inner thoughts of all the characters in a story. Despite some attempts made the film largely doesn't tell you what the characters are thinking while their reacting. (Pierce Brosnan's character for example has a moment in the shower where his phone rings and the caller reads unknown-and he shudders and groans clearly unhappy about getting this call-but why? what does he think this call is? how could he possibly know what's happening? half the time i was watching him i was wondering just what his motivation was other then staying out of jail--why does he care about Greg Kinnear even after he framed him for murder? why does he care about Ed Harris even after he shot him? why is he doing anything at all here?) How exactly does Marisa Tomei's character fit into the film again? what was her connection with the murder plot exactly? how did she know that kinnear was really innocent even before he told her? What she just knew because of his character? Why does Jennifer Connelly (who plays Kinnear's born again wife and is completely unimportant to the plot as a whole) insist on maintaining a relation with Kinnear despite the fact that its clear that the two of them are completely wrong for each other (come to think of it why was he with her in the first place--i get that she saw him as a project to work on--but why did he bother getting himself cleaned up and seeking religion with her when he was clearly so much happier as a dead-head and she was so clearly in love with Brosnan's pastor character? why am i even asking this when again she clearly doesn't matter to the story.) This movie does not work as a whole and its a shame because they clearly had something almost good here. This is exactly why you need to have characters a viewer should care about in addition to decently done chase scenes and somewhat amusing characters in somewhat amusing circumstances.

After going through a disappointing summer movie line up this year " 2011 " so far, i was more than happy when i found this film playing in a theater near by.

And after watching this very enjoyable movie, i was left surprised in why it had a very limited release ? unlike most big budget summer movies, this movie focused on substance rather than style. it had a very engaging story that unfolds in a very intriguing way.

the story is that of a well known Pastor played by Pierce Brosnan who gets involved in a debate with a disbeliever and writer played by Ed Harris, soon after, the pastor gets involved in a sinful accident and tries to use his religious influences to get himself out. stuck in the middle of all this, is an ex-deadhead played by Greg Kinnear.

the Characters and acting were the best thing in the movie, a wonderful cast lead by Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connely and Marisa TOmey. they all deliver very memorable performances, and they added a lot to their characters. the characters were fun and seemed very familiar, easy to identify with.

the film was more of a dark comedy, very funny and laugh out loud moments involving religion, relationships and even murder.

I am just so surprised with the limited release, this film deserves a wider release and should reach more audience. I highly recommend this.

"I am the anointed servant of God and I tell you to be silent!" Deadhead turned born-again-Christian Carl (Kinnear) is friends with the pastor of his local mega-church Dan Day (Brosnan) and is invited to accompany him to scientist Dr. Paul Blaylock's (Harris) house for a discussion. When a terrible accident happens Carl finds himself fingered in the incident and does everything he can to prove he is innocent. Things aren't always easy though. Having never seen a preview for this I was excited for this based off the cast alone. While I will say this is a good movie and a very dark comedy I was a little disappointed. The main flaw this had was that the movie had a good idea but had only ten minutes of it. There was a lot of repeating going on and a few scenes that seemed like they were only put in to increase the running time. I have to say that Brosnan and Kinnear played very similar parts to the ones they played in "The Matador" (which is a better movie) but it seems to fit them. It may sound like I'm bashing this movie. I don't mean to if that's how it comes off. I did enjoy it and laughed a few times but based off the cast I was a little disappointed (but after movies like "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" and "Son Of No One" I need to stop thinking just because the cast is great means the movie will be great.) Overall, a decent dark comedy that is worth watching but tone down your expectations. I give it a B-.

With all the hullabaloo about the giant Evangelical MegaChurches such as Orange County, California's Crystal Cathedral filling the media it is refreshing to find a film that joins in the parodies and reveals some of the many flaws in those organizations. What begins as a debate between Pastor Dan Day (Pierce Brosnan) and atheist Dr. Paul Blaylock (Ed Harris) in front of a vulnerable audience in which sits radical born-again Christian Gwen (Jennifer Connelly) and her ex-drugged out Grateful Deadhead dummy of a convert husband Carl (Greg Kinnear) rouses some hilarious lines, but when Day and Blaylock and Greg meet for after debate drinks and Day inadvertently shoots Blaylock in the head, the story goes downhill from there: Greg is talked into taking the blame for the shooting so that the 'miraculous' moneyminded project of building a wholly Christian City on the Hill (complete with medical school, law school, and of course a crystal cathedral, etc.) will continue to pad the coffers of the evangelical showtime of Pastor Day. Carl's bumbling attempt to correct his sins of the past provides the common thread is this flimsy film, a journey that involves an old ex-deadhead security guard Honey Foster (Marisa Tomei), a cameraman gone berserk Jerry Hobson (Jim Gaffigan), Greg's vulnerable daughter Angie (Isabelle Fuhrman), and Greg's scheming father-in-law Joe (Ciarán Hinds).

Based on Larry Beinhart's novel by the same name, the disjointed script is by newcomer Douglas Stone and writer/director George Ratliff. If the point of making this movie was to poke fun at the increasingly popular cults of the Mega Churches and their brainwashed followers then they have succeeded. But 'reason' (in the character of Ed Harris's character) is knocked off in the first few minutes of the film and from there the movie just rambles around with poorly differentiated characters about whom we couldn't care less. How a cast of some of our finest actors got caught up in this mess is a conundrum. The end result suggests a knockoff Coen Brothers movie gone bad. It is a trial to make it through the end of SALVATION BOULEVARD!

Grady Harp