Times have changed. The image on the right is from a flyer being distributed these days by Jehovah's Witnesses. I guess Jesus is on my mind lately. Last night I watched The Apostle, to my mind a truly great film written and produced by Robert Duvall. Here's the trailer. Ten years old, the movie made only $20 million at the box office. By contrast, the latest Harry Potter movie made $77 million in the US last weekend alone.
On your next visit to Blockbuster, consider renting The Apostle. This review excerpt may persuade you:
To fully appreciate the depth of Duvall’s work in The Apostle, you need to know the story behind its making. You need to know that Duvall not only stars in it, but that he also wrote and directed it, and that after 13 years of trying to secure studio financing, he finally put up its five million dollar budget himself. Duvall believed in this film the way Sonny believes in the power of the Holy Ghost. In doing research he visited many a church and spoke with many a real-life evangelist; this preparation allows him to view Sonny's world from the inside out. He then cast the film largely with non-actors, who inhabit it so authentically that it appears as if he just stopped by one Sunday with a film crew and made up the picture on the spot.