Rented the Ethan Hawke indie film First Reformed on iTunes. This is a film written and directed by Paul Scrader who wrote (among other things) Taxi Driver back in the 70s. This film shares some DNA with that film, though with a better, but still flawed, main character.
Ethan Hawke plays the pastor of a small but historic 250 year old church in New York state. His character is world-weary, cynical, and a hard drinker but he is not without his faith despite all that. Amanda Seyfried plays the wife of a local environmental warrior who has spent short amounts of time in prison for his activism. She is pregnant and her husband doesn’t see how bringing a baby into this world would be ethical. So Hawke’s character meets with him and they discuss ethics of abortion and of environmentalism.
This meeting has a profound impact on Hawke who begins to see humanity’s impact on the environment as a religious issue. As in, our destruction of god’s world. This newfound change in his faith leads him to some morally questionable choices and that’s the crux of the film. And why it’s similar to Taxi Driver… a man doing wrong in order to do right (though one being a hate-filled cab driver vs. a basically good man of the cloth in the other).
This is a pretty good film. I rented it because it is on a few different critics “Best of 2018” lists and I wanted to see what it was about. I’m not that fond of the movie – it’s nowhere near my top ten list – but it’s a pretty good film, especially if you want a challenging film about religious faith and personal responsibility. It is NOT a “faith-based” film in that sense that it was written to reaffirm what believers already know to be true. This is a challenging film that is still, ultimately, about faith, morals, and responsibility.
It’s a bit of a slow burn though. Very talky and deliberately-paced. It sometimes has some fantastical elements that might come off as a little goofy or overly-earnest so some. But it’s well filmed and kind of beautiful, if you can get past the goofiness factor.
Overall, a pretty smart and thoughtful film. It’s a tentative recommendation, depending on your patience and interest in the subject manner.
Score: 78