Well, I finally saw Mel Gibson's little movie, yesterday. Since everyone who's been dying to see it surely has by now, I won't bother with hiding my opinions behind the "spoiler" banner.
Bottom line: I must be the most jaded Christian in history, but I'm glad I saw it.
It wasn't that the movie sucked, but I never got past the fact that it was a movie. The problem, I think, is that I was so hyped up about the stories of how violent it was that I didn't get myself into the proper frame of mind before entering the theater. The Passion expects you to be wearing your empathy for Jesus (or at least for any human that would be so treated) on your sleeve. But I had myself into "it's not real, it's just a movie" mode and never got out of it.
The way the story was told didn't help, either. You're supposed to get all your backstory from the flashbacks that are interspersed throughout the film. But I wanted time to let Caviezel make me believe he was Jesus... to see how good he was and what a great message he had... to feel the love of his disciples, his mother, Mary Magdalene... to understand why the Pharisees hated him so... Yes, yes, yes, I know that stuff already, but like I said, I was in movie mode.
The one characterization that really worked well in this mode was between Jesus and his mother, Mary. Maia Morgenstern was excellent at displaying the suffering love of a mother, and there was one flashback in particular that choked me up. I also liked the transformation of Simon the Cyrene from an unwilling bearer of Christ's cross to the heartfelt believer. That transformation is what I think the movie was trying to get at, and in later reflection it is probably the most enduring part of it for me.
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