This is How Movies Should Be Made

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

I'm not religious in the slightest, but you don't have to be to enjoy this wonderful feelgood musical. I can't understand any bad reviews on here. I bet they were still foot-tapping away to the songs. I've seen several different versions of this on stage as well, but the film did the stage musical justice and, with the era, it is locked in time with the whole hippie scene and a more carefree look on life, on love and hope for the future, something that's missing in many ways today.

It's an adaption of Gospel of St. Matthew as a hippie musical in present day NYC. John the Baptist gathers a disparate group of young people from all walks of life. Jesus (Victor Garber) leads his disciples through the city as the stories of the bible are reenacted with songs.As a stage musical, this continues to be a favorite of the theatrical set. As a movie, this fails to transcends the stage onto the big screen. The limited cast and scale reduces its cinematic potential. It does have the great Victor Garber at the lead. However the transfer from live theater to a movie loses the immediacy. The movie needs to replace it with greater scale which a theater doesn't have.

As I placed "Godspell" into my DVD player, I could feel a certain skepticism in myself that I don't normally get when it comes to movie musicals. Being a Jewish teen watching a musical based on the gospel according to St. Matthew really makes you wonder whether the film is meant for you. Thankfully, I enjoyed it immensely. "Godspell" is some kind of forgotten and underrated musical classic among the more contemporary movies and Broadway shows. It is relaxing, funny, entertaining, and heartfelt.The film takes place in NYC. Here we are introduced to eight common-folk just trying to make the best of their lives in the world. One is a clumsy waitress, another controls traffic, another is a struggling actress, etc. Then, a mystical being appears, a man by the name of John. Once he blows the shofar, the eight disciples abandon their lifestyle and meet up in Central Park, where John baptizes them in the nearby water fountain in song. That's when another person comes into the picture, a wimpy but outgoing man wearing light circus makeup and a "Superman" t-shirt with an afro by the name of Jesus. He is baptized also by John, who is rather stunned by his appearance. Jesus goes on to teach the eight other people of God's ways and his commandments.You get the point. Basically, "Godspell" is about Jesus Christ. You've probably seen this many times before. But this movie musical, based on the off-Broadway show, is fresh and original in its ways of storytelling.Of course, a heavy point of the movie is religion. "Godspell" came out in 1973, the same year as the film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's "Jesus Christ Superstar." Why do I prefer "Godspell" to the latter? As beautiful as the music from "Jesus Christ Superstar" is, Norman Jewison directed the film from a Christian standpoint. Therefore, it doesn't work for everyone. Obviously, "Godspell" finds its place among Christian viewers, but it doesn't favor that specific religion. You don't have to be Christian to like it, as you can already tell from when I mentioned I was Jewish. There are even great instances of spoken Hebrew in the film.Stephen Schwartz, known best for scoring the music for shows such as "Pippin" and "Wicked," makes great music for this film. It is not too difficult for the actors to perform, but it feels like Broadway through and through. Such songs as "God Save The People," "All For The Best," "By My Side," and of course "Day By Day" make their mark here and really stand out among songs from other movie musicals.The cast is relatively, and sensibly, unknown, but everyone shines here, even if they don't have major Broadway voices. At least three of the film's cast members starred in the original stage production, and do very well adapting to film. But many of you will recognize a young Victor Garber as Jesus. With a string of performances in his Broadway repertoire("Sweeney Todd," and "Assassins" came later in his career), this was Garber's big break in the film business, and does an amazing job here. He has a great enthusiasm and love for the role, and provides the character with the wisdom and importance he deserves, as well as a great singing voice.In the end, "Godspell" is a fun and lovable musical with positive morals, a good cast, great songs, and an ending that erupts with intense rock and roll beauty and emotion. The older moviegoers who have known the show since they were young will probably enjoy the movie version as well, but it deserves more appreciation from the teenage theatre buffs who are raised on the newer form of musicals. Thank God for "Godspell!"

A few years ago I had the opportunity to travel to England with a church group. I sang in the chorus as the group presented "Godspell" to audiences in the area around Birmingham. At the time I wasn't familiar with the stageplay. I found it a very powerful experience, and it clearly impacted the audiences who saw it as well. This was my first opportunity to see the movie version of the play. Frankly I prefer the stageplay (perhaps I'm biased, having been involved with a production) but still found the movie enjoyable.Based on the Gospel of Matthew and set to some wonderful songs, the story is set in modern day (well, 1973) New York City, where a group of people find themselves called out of the rat race by John the Baptist, get baptized in a city fountain and are then joined by Jesus (played by a young Victor Garber, whom I did not recognize!) in a romp through the city. Absolute purists and those who think the Gospel can only be told in King James Version style will likely not like this, and may even be offended by it. Jesus, for example, has a clown-like appearance to him, as do most of his disciples. And yet, that probably is an appropriate balance to the overly serious Jesus that many seem to picture in their minds. I like to think Jesus was in fact full of joy, and brought laughter to all those around him. Clown-like though he may be, the movie does, of course, become darker as it progresses, culminating, of course, in Jesus' betrayal by Judas and then his crucifixion. I found it interesting that David Haskell played both John the Baptist and Judas, and wonder whether the writers were making their own theological point in casting the same actor: that as John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus to call his disciples, so too did Judas prepare the way for Jesus to impact the world? Maybe ...Most of Jesus' ethical teachings (revolving around love for God and love and compassion for one another) are here. I find the most moving scene to be that in which Jesus, just before his betrayal, essentially says good-bye to his disciples. Although in 1973, this would have meant nothing except a portrayal of the New York City skyline, watched with post 9/11 eyes, the repeated shots of the World Trade Centre towers perhaps serve now as a stark reminder of how necessary Jesus' message is: that love for God means nothing unless it's accompanied by love (and not hatred) for others.My biggest beef with this is the closing scene. Why go to the trouble of putting out this version of Matthew's Gospel, and leave out the most important part - not just of Matthew's but of all the Gospels - the resurrection of Jesus! Here, the disciples simply carry Jesus' body out at the end. Yes, there was a certain sense of joy as they did it, which may imply that their experience of Jesus continues to impact them, but still Jesus himself is dead. That definitely detracts from this. (Our group in England restaged the closing scene so that the resurrected Jesus celebrates with his disciples rather than simply being carried out.) That theological objection aside, overall, this is a fun presentation of the gospel message. 7/10