Johnny Showtime: THE CHOSEN: THE LAST SUPPER, PART ONE

 by JB

Apparently, I was unaware of the global phenomenon.

I slowly became aware of The Chosen films when my local theater starting playing more Fathom Events trailers before their main features. I thought the actor cast as Jesus looked interesting. I was feeling nostalgic about my Catholic upbringing. I bought my ticket and took a chance.

Although more recent installments have received theatrical distribution, The Chosen films started life as the most successful crowdfunded television series in history. The brainchild of filmmaker Dallas Jenkins, who co-writes and directs each installment, the series began on streaming app VidAngel in 2019. Seasons Three and Four were the first to receive theatrical release, and were later available on Amazon Prime, Netflix, YouTube, and even Facebook. Seasons Five, Six, and Seven will all receive theatrical playdates before streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime. More than 280 million people have watched all or part of the series thus far. How did this ever manage to fly under my radar? (Angels must fly very low.)

THE PLOT IN BRIEF: Jesus (Jonathan Roumie) returns to Jerusalem with his apostles, where he is hailed as the Messiah. The Pharisees are frightened by this, as they see that any upending of their order could lead to their removal by the Romans. The Pharisees, led by Caiaphas (Richard Fancy), decide to have Jesus killed. Because Jesus preaches love, forgiveness, and humanity, the Pharisees find it very hard to pin any crime on him, which the Romans could then use as excuse for executing him to keep the peace. Jesus conveniently gives them a reason to arrest him when, enraged by the local custom of using the temple as a marketplace during Passover, Jesus runs amok, overturning lender’s tables, freeing livestock, whipping vendors, and setting fire to stalls.

I will freely admit that I went to this film to scoff. It was better than it had any right to be. Way to go, Jesus!

I was impressed by how elegant and handsome this production looked; the sets and costumes are elaborate and endless. I was impressed by how committed the actors were to their roles and actually played them realistically, not merely following previous Biblical Epic acting tropes. I was impressed by how joyful and unpretentious this production was. The film began with a special prologue where the cast of the film all vied to see who could be most “over the top” in pronouncing “The Ten Commandments of Seeing a Film.” It was very funny and well-written. Way to go, Chosen!

MY “COME TO JESUS” MOMENT: Jonathan Roumie is very good as Jesus. I was able to suspend my disbelief. This guy COULD be the Son of God. My favorite scene in the film occurs when Jesus happens upon a large family enjoying a meal and celebrating a son’s recent engagement. The family begins to dance, and a cousin invites Jesus to join them in their celebration. I believe this is the first time I have ever seen Jesus Christ dance in a film, though he later admits to the cousin that he isn’t very good at it. The scene ends with Jesus blessing the young couple and wishing them happiness. It’s very sweet. I mean, occasions such as this had to happen, right? Bill Murray does it, why not Jesus?

Jesus MUST have danced: there are so many recorded wedding celebrations. He MUST have had a sense of humor: how can a man whose story captivated the entire world NOT? I wish Matthew, Mark, Luke, and/or John had included more of these incidents in their gospels.

AN ANNOYING AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL PAUSE: One of the first columns I ever wrote for F This Movie! concerned Easter favorite The Ten Commandments, which ABC dutifully trots out each spring for its annual showing. What I particularly liked about The Chosen is that it doesn’t pretend to know how folks talked back then; it didn’t invent a kind of rarified, semi-Shakesperian, ahistoric puddle of thees and thous. It just let its famous characters speak. The screenwriters behind The Ten Commandments possessed tin ears for dialogue. Here are some samples: "A chariot? Here in Goshen?" (my typical response to our Uber pulling up); "Beauty is but a curse to our women;" "Blood makes poor mortar;" and of course, the unforgettable “Moses, you stubborn, splendid, adorable fool.”

I was a little taken aback when, after about twenty minutes, I recognized Richard Fancy, who plays Pharisee Caiaphas, from his previous turn as Elaine’s erstwhile boss Mr. Lippman on Seinfeld. Here he sports an impressive white beard and much gruff gravitas. He was so good in the role that I was able to leave my Seinfeld memories behind.

The two gentlemen sitting to my left, ignoring the pre-show admonition to remain quiet, engaged in a loud and lively theological debate during the film, until one of them fell asleep and starting snoring loudly. When the film was over and the lights came up, the snoring guy wished me “a blessed day,” which I thought was nice. When the theater staff arrived to clean the theater, the two guys explained that they were going to stay to see it again, and was that alright?

I wondered if they were going to continue to debate the film and sleep. I wondered how long it was going to take me to get home. I wondered when I returned home, if my wife would dance with me?