Thursday, April 12, 2007

Moving Pictures Magazine on AMERICAN MESSIAH

Elliot Kotek, editor-in-chief of Moving Pictures Magazine, caught The Proper Care & Feeding of an American Messiah at AFI Dallas and had this to say:

Chris Hansen's long-titled mockumentary, The Proper Care and Feeding of a Messiah, is a ritualistic laugh riot. With a self-proclaimed “small 'm' messiah” as its anchor (just “a” messiah, a regional messiah, as opposed to “the” messiah), the first forty minutes of this film are as good as any "mock" being doled out by the Chris Guest gang. The fact this film was done in Waco, Texas, involving a teacher and many students of Baylor University is enlightening and encouraging. With Stranger Than Fiction/Arrested Development's Tony Hale contributing a cameo, this messiah's evangelical enthusiasm for antacids provides relief from religion's rhetoric.

Read his entire column on AFI Dallas for more on the festival.

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nice review...always good to be placed in Chris Guest territory, and the reviewer is absolutely right...the first forty minutes are hilarious.

4/12/2007 12:18 PM  
Blogger Chris Hansen said...

it's funny -- I've ALWAYS thought the first half of the film was the best, with its random lunacy. But some people complain about it being "slow to get started."

It's this obsession with plot - where's it going? Why are we watching? If I could have, I'd have made the whole film just about his utter insanity. But, of course, no one would have sat through 90 minutes of random lunacy, so a plot engine became necessary...

4/12/2007 12:24 PM  
Blogger DAN BUCK said...

No one would sit through 90 minutes of utter lunacy?

I guiess you better make sure your classes stay short. ;)

4/13/2007 6:54 AM  
Blogger Chris Hansen said...

well, if i did kunacy as well as YOU did, Dan, i'm sure they'd stay... ;-)

4/13/2007 3:34 PM  

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