Leap of Faith (DVD, 2003)

Classic Steve Martin! A throwback to the old Saturday Nite live days.

LEAP OF FAITH stars Steve Martin as Jonas Nightengale, a fraudulent faith healer who makes a living visiting small towns and giving hope in the form of prayer. Aided by his no nonsense manager, Jane (Winger), Jonas sets up his tent in a small suburb of Kansas where he soon learns that their hidden mikes, cameras and computers can’t fool the neighborhood sheriff (Neeson). But, when Jonas is touched by a local waitress (Davidovich) and her disabled son Boyd (Haas), he learns something new about truth and what real miracles are made of.

This is more then a movie about a con man who uses a ruse of holiness to con people out of their money. This is about God reaching down and healing a spiritually broken man. Steve Martin gives his best performance ever as Jonas Nightengale; a man who's life has been less than virtuous. And the music is amazing. But what really makes this movie are the last fifteen minuets. No movie has ever had such a powerful and uplifting ending. I strongly recommend that you see it.

What appeared from the first commercials to be a spoof and send-up of the traveling evangelist showed itself to be a profound story about the true meaning and power of faith and the amazing "leap" that can happen in a life that is marked by real faith, a faith in God and not in someone claiming to be God's servant/ambassador/salesman. Steve Martin plays his role perfectly; he is wildly entertaining as Jonas Nightingale the stage-preacher/healer, but lets us see the cracks in this man's soul, cracks that start to unravel his confidence as the story moves toward its amazing climax. As a pastor, I know that strange grey space between God's power and my own skills and training. It's a reality that must be confronted for the sake of integrity. Jonas has long ago lost the desire to pursue either the true power of God or his own humility in the light of it. I think it's pretty true to life that those realities will indeed collide at some point. The beauty of this film is that the hero is God. And in the end Jonas has to reluctantly admit it with a sense of real relief. "Leap of Faith" packs a lot of punch for a quirky little story. Ask yourself some big questions and watch this very entertaining and moving film.

Yes, I gave it an excellent and I have a lot of reasons why - Debra Winger, Liam Neeson and Meat Loaf all in the same flick. Or how about Steve Martin in a dramatic role, one that he so completely embodies that I have a hard time remembering it's him. Whenever I try to tell someone about the movie I have to say "it has that comedian in it, you know, the one who used to wear the broken arrow on his head and play the banjo." It's an odd cast of characters but the script calls for it and it works.

The story has its sappy moments (I could do without the butterfly scene) and is predictable for the most part. So, you ask, how could I rate it excellent? Here's how. The first time I watched it I found myself standing in my living room, clapping, tears streaming down my face. I have watched it over 100 times since and each time I am touched from the start.

Although I know it almost scene by scene somewhere within this story, played out so well by Martin and Winger, each time I watch it I leave it with a new appreciation for the power of faith. Not the power of a religion. Not the power of dogma or doctrine. Just for the power of pure, simple, unyielding faith. And in today's times a movie that can do this is, in my book, excellent.

I am going to watch it now.
I invite you to do the same.
Bring a box of tissues and be prepared to applaud.

You expect to life in a Steve Martin film but this film has so much more to offer if you just pay attention to all the lines and their relationship to the unfoldiing story. As a Christian I found it a remarkable film which demonstrated Gods faithfullness to us even when we step way out of bounds. The conclusion is real healing and repentence. One comment though, the vhs,dvd and cd versions were somewhat cut fror the original theater version. The cuts are extremely small and the film holds its power but I would have liked the scene inside the tent after the miracle healing, when Jonas is alone with God to remain the same as the theater version. About 10-20 seconds were cut here while Jonas was facing his feelings and personal history and conversing with God. This scene may have been cut due to some concerns by the extremely religious. Watch the film over and over, you will not be dissappointed.