THE PERFECT STRANGER (2005)

[indianasmith]

WARNING:  This is a Christian film.  If you dislike Christianity, and your mind is closed to its claims, you will probably not even want to bother watching it.  If you are curious as to what the Bible actually claims about Christ (versus how church sometimes distorts His nature), or if you are a Christian who has a hard time answering questions posed by skeptics, you might find this movie to be a rare gem.  It is certainly one of my favorites.


SYNOPSIS:
Nikki Comminsky is a successful attorney with a beatiful 12-year old daughter and a handsome husband.  But her life is full of conflict, her marriage is on the rocks, and she faces a tough decision regarding her future on the job.  After another hectic morning and an argument with her husband, she gets a dinner invitation to her favorite Italian restaurant . . . from "Jesus of Nazareth"!  She figures it is her husband having a little joke with her, since one of the things they had argued over was whether or not to go to a church outing for couples.  But when she shows up at the restaurant, she is greeted by a good-looking, blonde guy in a business suit who introduces himself as Jesus!

She almost walks out, but he persuades her to stay, and what follows is one of the most fascinating conversations imaginable.  Her sharp, skeptical mind kicks out question after question for "Jesus" to answer, and his patient, calm answers gradually make her wonder who this perfect stranger really is . . . .


MY COMMENTARY:
Most Christian films aren't very good.  Those that are Scripturally and doctrinally sound tend to be cheaply done and badly acted, and those that are well-funded and employ big names tend to water down doctrine in an effort to "go Hollywood."  But this movie is pretty cool.  Based on the, "Dinner with a Perfect Stranger," it does have kind of a noveL-like feel to it.  There is little action or movement - the majority of the film is simply the conversation Jesus and Nikki over dinner, but it is a conversation worth listening to.  The ending is a little cheesy, but not in a bad way.  I highly recommend it to anyone who is open-minded about Christianity. 

In looking it up on the IMDB, I found that there was a sequel made in 2007 that I did not know about.  I kind of want to see it, but I'm a little afraid to.  Sequels rarely live up to the original.

[zombie no.one]

fair enough, sounds like an original idea for a film, I have to say though that I generally prefer films that aren't 'about' some kind of issue that exists in the 'real world', I prefer films that kind of exist in their own little parallel universe which doesn't share any of our own historical/folklore/religion references...I find films that deal with actual specific issues we are already aware of in 'this' life to be a bit patronizing and overly reliant on our supposed shared knowledge of said subject/s...haven't seen this film though so I can't comment on it, that's more of a general viewpoint...

[indianasmith]

Thanks for the response.  I watch a lot of fantasy and sci-fi for the same reason - it's an escape from  the often-depressing reality we live in.  However, this film is a bit different - it's not so much about entertainment as it is about answers, at least, the answers as we Christians see them.  Within that context, I find it far better than most Christian-produced films.