Pastor, Plotter, Prayer, Guy

We took a family trip to the movies on this Black Friday, but didn't take in any of the big-budget pictures (the wife and kids will be seeing Wicked tomorrow, I'm passing). We instead saw Bonhoeffer, the story of an anti-Nazi German minister and theologian. 

The film is distributed through Angel Studios, which focuses on Christian-themed films and may be best known for its highly dubious child trafficking movie Sound of Freedom. The connection made me leery, but reviews were reasonably positive so I was OK giving it a shot.

In the end, I think it did an OK job of giving an overview of Bonhoeffer's life and resistance to the Nazis, but could have been much better.  The story is told in flashback during Bonhoeffer's last few days of life before being executed, and it's not always clear to tell at what point during Nazi rule events take place. 

There were also a couple of places where the story was embellished that didn't work for me.  During Bonhoeffer's time in the US studying theology he goes to a jazz club, and while he says he hasn't played in a long time, he proves to be a dab hand at improvising with the house band. This scene, and one where Bonhoeffer is assaulted by a racist hotel manager, were apparently added to emphasize his empathy for the plight of Blacks in America. 

The film also plays up how involved Bonhoeffer was in an assassination attempt on Hitler, which in reality he may have known about but was not actively involved. In both cases, the departure from fact made me wonder about the overall accuracy of the film. Bonhoeffer's story should be interesting enough to tell without making stuff up, though a more factual film may have been too theological.

The film ends with a reminder of the death toll of the Holocaust, a warning about the increase in anti-Semitic activity, and a call to never allow this sort of thing to happen again.  While I don't think it was intentional, the ending can also be interpreted as promoting resistance to whatever the incoming administration has planned. 

There were seven previews prior to the film, some more in line with the film being screened than others:

Den of Thieves 2, a sequel to Den of Thieves, a 2019 heist film that pitted LA County sheriffs against thieves who used to be special forces Marines. I expect the fast cars and fancy boats dominate to make up for a lack of plot.

Kraven the Hunter, which is apparently part of the Spider-Man universe. There are a lot of faux Russian accents and apparent daddy issues between Kraven and his father, played by Russell Crowe. Pass.

Dog Man, based on the book series by Dav Pikey. If this had come out five years ago I can guarantee that we would have seen this, as both boys were fans of the books. For all I know we may still wind up seeing it.

Homestead, one of two Angel films previewed. This one takes place during (or after) a war where a compound in the mountains becomes a flashpoint between its inhabitants and the people who are locked out. I expect there will be tension between loving thy neighbor and killing everyone for God to sort out.

Brave the Dark was the other Angel film, based on a true story about a teacher in 1980s Pennsylvania who takes in a troubled homeless teen. Jared Harris plays the teacher, which surprised me until I read the film is directed by his brother Damian. 

September 5, which tells the story of the Munich Olympic hostage crisis from the viewpoint of the ABC Sports crew that had a front row seat to the tragedy and covered it for the network. There is a fair amount of ethical wrangling about whether or not the coverage may be putting the hostages at risk. I may want to see this, but feel like I should see Munich first.

A Complete Unknown, which is kind of a biopic of the early 1960s New York City folk scene, told through the lens of a young Bob Dylan (played by Timothee Chalamet). It's probably the film on this list that I'm most likely to see, as the older boy said he was interested.