Great Idea!

Just a quick post about an unusual film I recently watched....
Sometimes, you just stumble across a movie like this, and wonder how the heck you got by for years and never even heard of it.


I mean, REALLY. Could the below picture match the lofty expectations created by its title? Warning: this review is going to contain SPOILERS.

Hitler Meets Christ (2007)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0243649/


Netflix descrription:
In this provocative pairing of opposites, two men embodying the spirits of Hitler and Christ meet in a seedy train station for conversation, debate and some unexpected understandings. As a derelict Hitler spews hateful philosophies, his revilement is met head-on by the tenacious compassion of his Christ-like companion. Michael Moriarty and Wyatt Page star in this engaging film adaptation of Moriarty's controversial play.

Yeah. Can you believe it? Hitler Meets Christ. Who in their right mind would pass on a movie like this???

Well, not I, friends. Not I.

Hitler Meets Christ is about two apparently-homeless guys who meet up in an American train station one night. One of them claims to be a reincarnated Jesus, and the other claims to be (you guessed it!) a reincarnated Adolf Hitler. Almost immediately, each seems to believe the other is for real, and the film sort of follows the next several days in their lives. Basically, Jesus tries to save Hitler's soul by explaining to him the true nature of life, and all that which is good. He wants Hitler to realize the wrong of his ways, maybe redeem himself on some cosmic level. See, he's on a mission from God.

But Hitler here is a embodiment of misery, and apparently unshakable. He's rude, mean, cynical, and full of hate. He spews profanities at the nice guy Christ, refusing to listen to anything remotely positive that's being said. Hitler just wants to be dead again...so how much time is Christ going to waste on this guy?

(Coming to CBS this fall!)

By now, you probably have figured out that Hitler Meets Christ is not the tub of hilarity that its title would suggest. In fact, this is a very slow, occasionally provocative, little exercise in philosophical debate. Hitler is a sad, sorry SOB; Jesus is gentle, smart, and patient. They just sort of walk around talking.

Of course, that's not to say that the very concept still makes this picture amusing on some automatic level (heck, no one could help but chuckle at the sight of Adolf Hitler making flatulent noises right in someone's face). And that's exactly the problem. Hitler Meets Christ had a mighty steep hill to climb if it was going to overcome my expectations and wow me with any deep thoughts. With this kind of title, the movie should have been a friggin' comedy. How could it NOT be, and still turn out OK?


Well, lemme tell ya -- even though I was disappointed by the seriousness of this affair, I still kind of liked it. It's not that bad. Go figure!

The deliberations between Jesus and Adolf just started to grow on me. Jesus is so darn classy and wise, while Hitler is practically insane with hatred. Why would the Man Upstairs want this person redeemed? Also, the film surprised me later on when (SPOILER!) Jesus actually just gives up and heads back to Heaven. Yeah, we see a not-totally-100-percent-PERFECT human portrayal of JC here, and I appreciated that. Why should he be totally flawless all of the time, anyway? It pleased me when Jesus in the end actually just said, "Screw this!" and zapped Hitler with some kind of lightning pulse. A little funny, sure, but also a twist ending that I fully supported. (END SPOILER!).

Hitler Meets Christ got me to think juuuuusst a little, and thankfully, the film is only, like, an hour and ten minutes. After all, you wouldn't want a movie like this to go on much longer than that -- it's just a bunch of dialogue, and even good dialogue wears out its welcome eventually.

As far as the technicals -- Hitler Meets Christ is incredibly low budget, with muddy visuals, terrible sound, and a score that sounds like it was composed on some cheap Casio keyboard. Obviously, no one could call this a high-quality affair. Of course, that's really not the point with something like this. The film is skillfully-acted and kinda-sorta well written. In this particular case, what else did we really need?

Just take a chance, and check this one out. Hey, at the very least, you can tell all of your friends that you actually just watched a movie called Hitler Meets Christ, right? They'll be impressed!

3 out of 5.

b.