Movie Review: Constantine's Sword
ROUNDUP REVIEW: CONSTANTINE'S SWORD
(3 stars)
America has been guided for nearly two presidential terms by a strain of evangelical Christianity that, to many, represents a march into dangerous and divisive territory. A personal inquiry into Christianity's violently checkered history, particularly as it relates to anti-Semitism, director Oren Jacoby follows author and ex-priest James Carroll (whose book formed the basis of this documentary) as he wrestles with a massive subject. He begins and ends with the conservative evangelical movement in America, as typified by the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colo. At the nearby Air Force Academy, the megachurch's influence is profound, as its members pressure non-members to get with the program, and the military sponsors screenings of Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ." Carroll, a genial, searching on-camera subject, wonders "where it all went wrong between Christians and Jews." There's a faux-naive quality to some of the observations, but the best of it is handled in a spirit of honest inquiry.
- Michael Phillips
Running time: 1:36. Opens Friday at the Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave. No MPAA rating.
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