THE MESSENGER: THE STORY OF JOAN OF ARC review

Alrighty... onto the second review of the night. This time I'm writing while sprawled out on the eleventh row of an American West flight out of Phoenix flapping it's wings to get me back to my lovely bed and home.

While I'm up here all close to God and such... I figured this would be a great location to begin discussing THE MESSENGER: THE STORY OF JOAN OF ARC.

Now right up front I'm going to tell you... I love this movie. But... Alot of critics seem to be ready to tear it to pieces. Taking potshots at the 'spacy' look on Milla Jovovich's face. That odd other gaze in her eyes.

But frankly... This movie really does remind me quite a bit of the feeling I had while watching THE THIN RED LINE.

How so?

Well... This isn't a movie that is really made for 100% of the audience. Not to mean that one side or another is superior... only it's a different aesthetic taste. Sort of like... there are some people that really like the way POP ROCKS feel in your mouth, while others begin gagging and spitting them out.

This is that type of movie.

Like THE THIN RED LINE... it's about a normal person in the midst of battle. But even to a higher degree.

A girl, an uneducated girl.

Imagine... You are in high school. God comes to you and says that you are to lead the American forces to destroy the evil of Saddam Hussein.. but you must do it. God doesn't take NO for an answer... He makes really strong arguments.

So... You have to make your way to the President of the United States and convince him to send you and his men and women of the military on a holy crusade to wipe out this 'scourge'.

Uh huh...

Well... pop quiz hot shot... What do you do?

How do you convince those that do not believe? How do you make your point to them, if God didn't grant you the power to levitated the Statue of Liberty by motioning your pinky finger. I mean... What.. do you have them attempt to shoot you... knowing that God will somehow save you, or would he interpret that as a suicide attempt and doom your soul to purgatory forever?

Alright... Now let's say you've convinced the President. But God doesn't want you in some tent somewhere... he wants you on the front lines... Close contact with the death. Others' blood coats your face like an avocado face wrap.

You've been a simple person your whole life... and now you care the responsibility of life and death... you lead people to death and victory at the cost of lives... thousands of lives. A field of barbarism... How does this serve God's will?

'He moves in mysterious ways.'

Yeah... I know, I've seen END OF DAYS... God has a great publicist.

Folks... Milla is this simple girl. She wanted to gather flowers... become a nun... live a simple life. She didn't even know how to read.

Then she finds herself in these battles... Communicating with voices or visages inside her mind. A faith in the bestower of her message.

That 'spacy' look? That's uncertainty... a girl lost in the midst of blood and body parts.

Can you imagine having these visions? At 18? This sort of responsibility?

Not me... I don't want it. It'd drive me crazy... And it very nearly drives Joan crazy as well. Like Scorsese's THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST, this is a human portrayal of one of God's messengers. These are flawed beings... and all the more beautiful for it.

The battles are the type you flinch during. The aftermath the sort your jaw drops to. But predominantly... this movie is about getting to the last act which quite honestly I found compelling as any bit of film I've seen all year long.

Dustin Hoffman is no inquisitor... not in my eyes anyways... Hoffman is her reason... her version of God... The face he takes. Perhaps she misinterpreted some of her visions... spoke a bit of blasphemy... and perhaps God wanted a martyr. She needed absolution, but she was unsure of what sins she committed. Here Hoffman plays the Inner Doubts we have after thinking we have made the right choices in life. That demon upon your shoulder that questions your intentions at every moment of silence.

After many more viewings and a couple of years I'll talk about where in the scope of Besson's career I feel this film falls... but right now... I love this film.

This isn't an easy movie... You'll have to think, interpret what you are seeing. You may have doubts, you might question Joan herself.

But my God this is a beautiful movie. The production design, score, costumery, cinematography... all magnificent.

The acting is, for me, every bit as strong as BRAVEHEART if not even on par with Branagh's HENRY V.

Stay open minded and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.