We survived the opening of the movie “2012,” which was last weekend’s top-grossing film. (See it now before the world actually ends, as is predicted on a faux- newsy movie related web site).
Meanwhile, apocalyptic themes will make another appearance at the Cineplex the day before Thanksgiving with “The Road,” a film based on Cormac McCarthy’s unrelentingly bleak novel about a father and son who struggle for survival in a barren world following a cataclysmic event that is never described (and never connected to any particular faith tradition).
Now Entertainment Weekly writer Adam B. Vary reports that the veteran Christian p.r. company A. Larry Ross Communications will try to help fill theater seats by marketing the film to believers. Vary is surprised at the partnership, as he writes in a solid, snark-free article (that is curiously unavailable on the ew.com web site):
When picturing the ideal film to market to Christian filmgoers, The Passion of the Christ is a no-brainer. Even a silly family comedy with clear biblical overtones like Evan Almighty makes sense. But the grim, R-rated postapocalyptic drama The Road?
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie will need all the help it can get:
Shot through with a bleak intensity and pessimism that offers little hope for a better tomorrow, the film is more suitable to critical appreciation than to attracting huge audiences though topliners Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron will attract initial business.
Ross has worked with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association since the early 1980s, so he should know a lot about forgiveness. That’s good, because Ross earlier promoted the “Left Behind” movie, which is perhaps (and this is saying something!) one of the worst Christian films in history.
But will Christians forgive Ross for promoting “The Road,” which features hunger, cannibals, criminals, killings and (spoiler alert!) the death of one of its main characters? After all, Christian versions of the End Times typically include a hint of redemption—at least for the redeemed, if not for sinners. Such hope is nowhere to be found in “The Road.”
Ross is promoting the film via Twitter and his Facebook site but not his corporate web site (which does list the company’s work promoting other films, including “Prince of Egypt,” “Jonah: a VeggieTale Movie” and “The Passion of the Christ.”
CORRECTION: Ross’s site DOES feature their work on the film (see comment).
The promotional partnership has been virtually ignored by both the mainstream and Christian press (one notable exception being is a story published by The Christian Post).
Ross, who will hold advance screenings for Christian leaders, told Entertainment Weekly that he hopes pastors will refer to the film in their sermons. If so, will pastors read a statement to their congregations saying: “This seemingly gratuitous reference was made in exchange for free tickets and other promotional considerations provided by the makers of ‘The Road?’”
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Comments (8) |
November 18, 2009, at 5:35 pm
The Wall Street Journal ran this interview with Cormac McCarthy (who I’m really getting into at the urging of my husband). It has quite a bit of religion in it, actually.
November 18, 2009, at 11:30 pm
I’m one of those Christians that The Road is being marketed to, as I was invited to a free screening as a “Christian leader and gatekeeper” (first time I’ve been called that). I saw the film on Monday and wrote about my initial impressions here. I thought it was a great film, though it was the darkest, for the most extended period, of any film I can remember. I disagree that there is no hope present however. Perhaps not hope for a traditional Hollywood happy ending—and that could make it bomb at the box office—but there is hope nonetheless.
The movie made me want to read the book, which I just picked up.
November 19, 2009, at 8:32 am
Steve, can you post a link to the EW article? I couldn’t find it anywhere online.
Perhaps Vary is surprised because he views Christians as one-dimensional. The director and screenwriter don’t, judging from the Christian Post article.
November 19, 2009, at 11:41 am
I read the book and it was fantastic. Bleak, dark and impossible to put down. This Cormac McCarthy is a genius. And I agree with Ms. Mollie. The book has quite a bit of religion in it. But it’s not smack you upside the head with a Bible religion. It’s got glimpses of love and compassion and grace and goodness (plus a few lucky breaks) in the midst of a hellish landscape that make you wonder: Could God be present, somewhere, in this awful earth? And if He is present, why is He doing a little bit of good here and there, but ignoring so much misery and evil? The God (or god) in The Road is not your co-pilot. He’s not your buddy. He doesn’t reserve good parking spaces for you in the mall parking lot. And he isn’t going to make the mess that you’re in disappear. And yet, perhaps, he is present. Not at center stage, but he is there. Maybe.
November 20, 2009, at 10:48 am
If the screenplay does not butcher the book (as the first American publisher did to A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, hint, hint..), than I have to say it does have “a hint of redemption”. The boy never loses faith that they are “carrying the fire”. And he did find the “good guys”.
November 21, 2009, at 6:08 pm
As a representative of A. Larry Ross Communications, I would like to offer some thoughts on both Steve Rabey’s above blog and the subsequent comments.
Mr. Rabey is correct that “The Road” certainly isn’t the next faith feature release or Jesus film, and no one is under the impression that it is. However, this mainstream release is still relevant to the faith community as an opportunity to engage the culture in spiritual conversations. The power of this movie, which does closely follow Cormac McCarthy’s book, is not the answers given, but rather the overarching questions presented – questions about life, death, hope and the existence of God. Our involvement with this project is to equip and empower people to dialogue about this film and provide context for those discussions.
Similar to the “ghosts of religion” Terry Mattingly references in his debut column regarding why GetReligion exists, there are powerful echoes of the Christian story in “The Road.” The director and others working on this project have noted it is not presumptuous for faith audiences to view this movie through a biblical filter. In fact, the only specific directive from the author to the director was his request that the film adaptation retain as many God references as possible from his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, as they are crucial to the power of the story.
ALRC approaches each client relationship both thoughtfully and prayerfully, including both the business dimension and ministry opportunities they represent. This project is posted on the ALRC newsroom Web site at http://www.alrcnewskitchen.com/theroad, along with a link to the official movie Web site and trailer.
November 21, 2009, at 7:29 pm
One degree of separation from Pope Benedict and I hear he thinks this is where we are at on The Road, a very small warm light burning and it is enough. The End will feel like the End but it’s not. Big fun.
December 2, 2009, at 4:34 pm
Thanks to Julie and A. Larry Ross for correcting an error in my original post:
“We do list the film and distributor as a current project/client on our corporate Web site in addition to sermon outlines, study guides and other parochial resources posted in a virtual newsroom on the ALRC Newskitchen site.”