twilliams76

Implausibly ridiculous!

Persecuted is a film that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever and its storyline could not nor would not ever happen in reality; but it has not stopped filmmaker Daniel Lusko from writing and directing the story to pander to the fears of the far political and religious right. This is yet another film made by a "Christian" filmmaker who wants to purport that he and others like him are being "persecuted" for their beliefs … seemingly forgetting what actual persecution is (I'd say ask Christ about it but He died from actual persecution).

The real kicker to the story: the "villains" of Persecuted are people merely seeking tolerance for all religion! It is an organization that seeks the approval of a revered Christian evangelist named John Luther (James Remar – Django Unchainced) to go ahead and begin worldwide operations with some sort of assistance from the US government (because that'd happen!). One seeking the vocal support of Luther is a US Senator (Bruce Davison – X-Men), who becomes downright frustrated when Luther speaks his conscious and says he cannot approve of a group that would place Christians at the same table as leaders from other world religions. Tolerance!? What are these despicable bastards thinking?!

The US Senator and some of Luther's own cohorts are so upset with his lack of cooperation, they decide to frame him for the murder of a young and innocent teenage girl! They get the girl killed but they are unable to capture/arrest Luther who proves to be a rather wily one. The damage to his name has been done, though … as everyone simply believes John Luther would just KILL this girl … just because. The world has turned against John Luther!

The entire film is a cat-n-mouse chase between Luther and those after him. As Luther has God on his side and government = bad, there aren't a whole lot of surprises as the film advances.

As the film culminates in a ridiculous stand-off, I was not able to shake the thought that the film's primary villains are people who seek tolerance and understanding of others so that there would be NO MORE religious war and leaders from all religions would respect one another enough to listen to others. TOLERANCE is the real villainy in Persecuted! Wrap your head around that one! This is frightening and I guess it is the world that some want.

Yoda got this one completely wrong: "Fear is the path to the dark side … fear leads to anger … anger leads to hate … hate leads to suffering." Who knew it all actually stems from TOLERANCE?

In this dark comedy that is blacker than the deepest depths of space, a group of denizens reside in a random floating space station (Station 76 to be exact) whose lives and well-being are put up for inspection by the audience as they struggle with everyday ordeals such as loneliness, infidelity, sexism, drug use, self loathing and loneliness (yes, the second mention was intentional).

This low budget film does the most with its budget and it actually all looks quite acceptable as it is a spoof/comedic take on cheap, cheesy futuristic 70's science fiction films which allows for poor special effects and less-than believable interior shots of actual human- built ships/stations floating about in space. The station's interior décor is 1970s chic ... as are the characters' costumes and hair styles. The director (Jack Plotnick) has all of this down.

Where he suffers is piecing together the story's narrative. His lack of direction is rather obvious as the toxicity of some of the laughs aren't as deadly as they should be. I chuckled throughout most of this movie but this comedy is actually more of a tragedy and while everything is played for laughs the somber, serious nature of each of the characters may persuade some to believe they are instead watching a bizarre drama as these characters are clearly all crying on the inside.

When Jessica (Liv Tyler - Empire Records) newly arrives at Station 76 as a new mate, the men and women of the station aren't sure what to make of a woman wanting to "work". The station's captain (Patrick Wilson - Little Children) is unhappy with his new partner but also appears to harbor some resentment towards the one who just left whom Jessica is replacing. Matt Bomer (Magic Mike) plays the station's maintenance man whose wife (Marisa Coughlan - Pumpkin) has grown bored with both marriage and motherhood.

Their lives unhappily float about in space ... and that is about it. Some will chuckle at their lives and misfortunes as presented and others simply won't get it; but we are laughing at tragic human internal suffering. It's black comedy ... and parts of it do work.

The film clearly won't be for everyone. I enjoyed this for the most part but I know many others won't like it ... so I won't be going out of my way to recommend this to those I know.