So much average

Good concept, poorly executed.

Fresh and Exciting

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Imagine the consequences if Jesus Christ was never resurrected and his body was discovered buried in a tomb in Jerusalem. Or at least, that is the possibility that this film presents. Anyway, informed of this possible discovery by Israel, the Roman Catholic Church sends a priest named "Father Matt Gutierrez" (Antonio Banderas) to investigate. Although skeptical of Father Gutierrez's impartiality, the archaeologist, Sharon Golban" (Olivia Williams) allows him to accompany her into the tomb she discovered. Since many of the details of this discovery have yet to be thoroughly analyzed, she does her best to explain each step of the process along the way. Obviously, the significance of the results to the Christian faith is enormous. Israel is also concerned because possessing the body of Christ is a two-edged sword. On the one hand, it might bring them an invaluable bargaining chip with the West. On the other hand, the influential Orthodox Jewish members within Israel are infuriated with the sacrilege being done and want the site closed immediately. Additionally, realizing that something extremely important has been found, the Palestinians also become involved and seek to possess or destroy whatever is in the tomb. At any rate, rather than disclose some of the more interesting parts of this film, I will just say that the director (Jonas McCord) does a pretty good job of keeping the tension going all the way from start to finish. While the acting was only adequate and I thought the ending could have been drawn out a bit more, I still found it to be an enjoyable film overall.

The body is about an Israeli archaeologist who discovers an ancient skeleton that has found in a tomb in Jerusalem. The remains indicated it could have been have the body of Christ because of the crucifixion marks, faint marking around the skulls and many other signs. The Vatican then decides to send a priest to investigate the issue and make sure whatever she discovers does not become a major issue. I found the movie to be quite boring and had terrible performances by the actors. This movie is a great example of an interesting idea (discovering the body of Christ) terribly executed. If it were better made and had a better script, it could have been an excellent movie. The ending of the story make the movie seem quite pointless as well, since everything was covered up, and the body was actually not the body of Christ. After watching this movie, I have learned that in order for the movie to be entertaining, it has to be made well even though it was a great idea. I have also learned that we have to keep on digging deeper to find more facts before making assumptions. (They concluded that it was Jesus Christ before they looked at everything (the plaque hidden in the tomb that said it was David who was buried.Overall, the movie is boring, badly directed, and had somewhat bad acting.

**SPOILERS** Complicated religious thriller involving the finding of the remains, or bones, of a man who was crucified around the time of Jesus. The facts that the remains were found, under Nasir Hamid's hardware shop, in a discovered underground tomb in Jerusalem made it a political hot potato for everyone involved: The Vatican the Palestinians and Israelis.The film "The Body" has the Vatican send Father Matt Gutierrez to Jerusalem in order to keep the discovery from seeing the light of day in the fear if in fact it is Jesus' remains it will shake the very foundations of the Catholic Church: The death and resurrection of Christ! The Israelis under the guise of Israeli top official Moshe Cohen use the discovery for their own political purposes! Cohen want to use the bones to pressure the Vatican to recognize a united Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state of Israel! As for the Palestinians they have the most to lose. The fact that they may well end up behind the eight ball by having the Vatican and the entire Christian world leave them out in the cold by disenfranchising them from their claim that Jerusalem is their, not Israel's, capital.Getting in touch with the Israeli archaeologist Sharon Golban in charge of determining if the bones are genuine Father Matt, a former intelligence officer in El Salvador before he became a priest, becomes more and more convinced, as the evidence mounts, that they are that of Jesus! Going against his superiors- Cardinal Pesci-wishes Father Matt is now in danger of not only being defrocked but losing his faith in the church, and religion, that's saved him from a life of guilt, in what he did back in El Salvador, and misery!The movie has Palestine radical Abu Yosef use every mean at his disposal to keep the truth of the discovery of Jesus' remains, if that's what they are, from being used by the Israeli Government to its advantage: The recognition by the Vatican in a united Jerusalem as Israel's capital! Father Matt in trying to prove, as ordered by Cardinal Pesci, that the bones are not that of Jesus soon realizes that he's being used as a pawn by the Vatican for its political not religious purposes.****SPOILERS*** The movie ends on a bittersweet note in that we never find out the truth of the mysterious remains found in Jerusalem because their destroyed, together with himself, by a wild eyed and insane Abu Yosef. Abu who had his followers kidnap Sharon's two children in order for her to gives the bones to him, for safe keeping, broke his word to Nasir Hamid who was blackmailed by him to kidnap them. This set off a chain of events that lead to not only the bones being destroyed but Father Matt quiting the Catholic Church, as a priest, and ending up seeking God and Jesus in his own personal way. A way in which faith in God not the politics of man guides him.

What I liked most in "The Body" was not what THE PLOT was about, but WHAT ISSUES it dealt with: It brings up a hot question of what would happen if somehow proof came up that Jesus was a mere mortal after all, thus shaking Christianity's foundations.The story in the "Body" goes as follows: Dr. Sharon (Williams), a determined and skilled archaeologist, discovers a body which qualifies to be the one of Christ. Her amazing discovery naturally attracts great attention from several sides, despite the fact that it is suppressed from the general public: First of all there is the Vatican, who fears that this discovery will undermine the Christian faith, and thus sends Father Gutierrez "to investigate", i.e. "to bury", the case; then there is the Israeli government, which finds the whole issue as a great tool to further its political aims; and finally, we have the Palestinians who also find the discovery as a great opportunity to pursue their own agenda. As Fr. Gutierrez and Dr. Sharon try to work together and find the truth, their efforts are continuously stymied by the above three competing parties which conspire and collide endlessly.The above plot makes for an interesting thriller, that's for sure. But as I said, what I liked more in this film are the philosophical issues it deals with: What if proof came up that Christ didn't resurrect, after all? Would this destroy Christianity, or as an Israeli spy master says in the film, some faithfuls may abandon ship but the religion is big enough to prevail? And how would the Vatican (and the Protestant and Orthodox churches for that matter) react to such news? Difficult questions, which the film handles rather skillfully, although still a bit superficially.The direction is good, albeit sometimes things could be a bit less slow. Still, McCord produces wonderfully the atmosphere of a city as contradictory as Jerusalem.As far as the acting is concerned, Banderas was good but not perfect. Williams was much better in her role, but sometimes her Israeli accent disappeared revealing her UK roots. I liked Jacobi in his small role as a priest who finds this shocking discovery too big for him to handle.Verdict: 7/10.