The Big List of Lenten Movies

I'm never as interested in "Jesus" movies as I am in mainstream films with food for thought about sin, reparation, and redemption.

These movies run the gamut from humor to wrenching drama, from a science fiction journey to the depth of dreams to an Israeli couple hosting an unlikely duo for holidays. Dive in and see where these take you.

 

If you haven't heard of them be sure to check reviews for ratings. There are some excellent ones that use bad language and violence to make their point. For that matter, The Passion of the Christ was not for wimps. Just as Jesus' real story wasn't.

Links in movie titles go to my reviews. A number of these have been discussed by Scott Danielson and me on our A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast. Those links follow the descriptions.

• Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (A Match Made By God) - A solid comedy and a funny, sweet look at true love. It delivers the strong theme of “seeing God in your beloved.” and has an overwhelming example of covenantal love when Suri humbly doesn't expect anything in return for his love. [Good Story episode 209]
  
  
• Ushpizin ... a tale of love and living your faith to the fullest. As well as a template for how marriage should work. Simply charming. [Good Story episode 66]
  
  
• Departures ... by turns funny, moving, and inspirational. Each character, no matter how small, is important in the big story which is something like an orchestra playing a symphony in this story.

• The Intouchables ... Wealthy quadriplegic Philippe needs an assistant to help him with all the functions of daily life. He hires immigrant, ex-con Driss because the regular applicants are missing one important quality and the lives of both men are changed. Sounds predictable. Isn't. [Good Story episode 146]
  
  
• In Bruges ... for me, this is the perfect Lenten movie. Redemption, sacrifice, humanity in it's worst and best are all mingled and shown here. [Good Story episode 29]
  
  
• Gone Baby Gone ... A private investigator and his partner agree to search for a kidnapped girl because he has connections to the locals that the police do not. This can be tough to watch but you won't find a stronger examination of free will, the difference choices make in our lives, and personal responsibility in the face of evil. [Good Story episode 126]

• Stranger Than Fiction ... I'm continually amazed at how well this story is told and what a wallop it packs. Redemptive and life affirming. [Good Story episode 8]
  
  
• Of Gods and Men ...  a group of Trappist monks in Algeria must choose between the practical choice to abandon their monastery when extremist Muslims terrorize the area ... or following spiritual calling even when there doesn't seem to be any reason to do so.  [Good Story episode 58]
  
  
• Les Miserables (2012) ... as Scott Danielson said, "This film makes me want to be a better person. Could there be higher praise for a movie? [Good Story episode 117]
  

• The Women's Balcony ... Friendships are broken, marriages are stressed, and budding romances are tested as the moderate-extreme, male-female lines are drawn in this battle over something very dear to the hearts of all: how to practice their faith. However, it is all handled lightly and with good-natured humor. [Good Story episode 175]
  
  
• Lars and the Real Girl ... this sweet film shows unconditional love and complete acceptance, in the family, in the town, and in the most unusual love triangle you can imagine. [Good Story episode 27]
  
  
• Babette's Feast ... huge underlying message about God's unexpected and overflowing generosity and Jesus' complete self-sacrifice ... all wrapped up in a woman who gives all her lottery winnings to cook a perfect meal for a village. [Good Story episode 221]
  

• Mary & Max ... a rich story for those who are not afraid to explore the heights and depths that imperfection humanity bring to our lives and the lives of those we touch. [Good Story episode 43]
  
  
• Calvary - Not for the faint-of-heart. But simply astounding. A real masterpiece that provides food for thought for everyone from Catholics to atheists. [Good Story episode 101]
  
  
• Pan's Labyrinth ...  as Joi reminded me in years past, "the imagery is amazing, the language beautiful, and the story mythic, AND it honors self-sacrifice as the truest expression of love. [It shows] the road to virtue is not easy, and it's about doing what's right, even if you don't always know why, and even when it hurts.  [Good Story episode 70]

 

• Inception - perhaps the perfect heist movie doubling as a thriller, as well as being a wonderful look at truth and love. [Good Story episode 16]
  
  
• Amadeus - A rich meditation on the way that God chooses to give his gifts and how we respond to the measure that has been given to us. Superb. [Good Story episode 328]

A Movie You Might Have Missed #26 — Without a Clue

It's been 10 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

Mystery and comedy. There may be no better combination, and certainly you won't find it done better than in today's movie.

Without a Clue features stellar teamwork by Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley, who are at their best here. Kingsley is Dr. Watson who actually is the genius at deduction. He has written his adventures as stories with a fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes, so as to not hurt his chances at being named to a prestigious board. When the stories got so popular that people wanted to meet Holmes he hired actor, Reginald Kincaid to act the part. The problem: Kincaid is a two-bit, drunken, skirt-chasing actor (Caine) which causes no end of trouble and comic delight whenever "Holmes" tries to improvise his way through a case. 

 

It is a real delight to watch these two great actors throw themselves into their parts with wonderful comic timing. Caine gets a lot of mileage out of Holmes' efforts to appear a genius. This movie is especially good for any children who understand how twists work on the classic detective stories.

A Movie You Might Have Missed #25 — Shower

It's been 10 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

Now we share one of Tom's favorite movies. Have you noticed that many of his favorites are gentle, charming, and humorous? Yep. But all individuals in their own way. This one is no different. 

This is the sweet, charming story of a son who returns home due to a misunderstanding. He has made a successful life for himself in another city while his father and brother have remained in business at the father's bath house. 

On one level the story is predictable, revealing the problems of the bath house regulars. As we expect, the returning brother has been somewhat estranged from his family and this, too, is resolved. For instance, I will never again hear "O Sole Mio" without thinking of this movie. 

However, on another level, there is complexity that was unexpected. This is provided by the brother who has remained at home and by the father's revelation of his past ... whereby we understand exactly why he loves running his bath house. Also quite enjoyable  are the glimpses of life in the father's corner of Beijing.

A Movie You Might Have Missed #24 — Equilibrium

It's been 10 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

Come now to a future, after the Third World War, where a hidden leader named "The Father" has decreed that the answer is to remove emotions as they are the root of all violence and evil. Banishing emotions leads to banishing art, music, and books as well, but that is a small price to pay for peace. Or so this futuristic society believes as they take their daily doses of Prozium which sublimates feelings. 

Christian Bale is John Preston, a Clerick whose job it actually is to enforce the anti-emotion laws by rooting out and destroying the underground sense-offender resistance who luxuriate in things like perfume, silk, and symphonies. One day he accidentally misses his daily dose of Prozium and ... you guessed it ... discovers what he's been missing. 

In many ways, the story line is predictable but watching it unfold brings a fair number of surprises, the acting is good, and the faces are lovely (Christian Bale, Taye Diggs). As well, there is the inventive "Gun-Kata," martial art with weapons at a super-high speed which lends itself to a choreography which is simply amazing to see. This came out around the same time as The Matrix which may be why it has been overlooked by so many, but our family prefers this movie.

A Movie You Might Have Missed #23 — Matchstick Men

It's been 10 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

Nicholas Cage is a con artist whose successful cons can't compensate for the fact that his numerous phobias leave him no way to have any personal life. Sam Rockwell is his partner and they are in the middle of pulling off a potentially lucrative scam when Cage discovers he has a teenage daughter who arrives unexpectedly to live with him. What then unfolds is a story of learning to parent interspersed with pulling off the con. The two stories become entangled which leads to increasing tension. 

You don't get much more of an anti-hero than Nicholas Cage's character in this role. As for style, granted it is that of the 60's more than today but that is more than compensated for by the sheer attraction of watching the con go on. More than anything, however, I was struck by the sheer potential for change and growth that Cage's character discovers. The end, which I won't reveal here, struck me as an extremely Catholic one.

A Movie You Might Have Missed #22 — Radio Days

It's been 10 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

 

Before the internet, video games, and television, there was radio which captivated its audience just as thoroughly as modern storytelling venues do today. 

This movie is Woody Allen's love letter to the medium he grew up with. He narrates as we watch a young boy's view of his ordinary family and the way that different radio shows influenced their lives. Several generations of his family live in their New York house during World War II and the always-playing radio provides the backdrop to the small daily dramas that make up their lives. The stories go from humorous to dramatic as we see the family stories interspersed with those of the radio stars of the day and Sally the cigarette girl who is struggling to begin a radio career. 

At the heart is a love of family that shines through all the everyday ordinary scenarios and the nostalgic look at the past. Thoroughly captivating and a movie I have watched countless times.

A Movie You Might Have Missed #21 — Shaun of the Dead

It's been 10 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

Shaun and his best friend are a couple of slackers. A good evening is one that ends at the pub and every evening ends at the pub. Shaun's girlfriend is less than pleased with this lack of initiative, especially after celebrating their third anniversary ... at the pub. She breaks up with Shaun who is so distraught that he doesn't notice all there is a zombie epidemic all around them. This leads to some hilarious scenes, such as when Shaun and his friend first encounter zombies and think they are drunks. Shaun takes the lead in rescuing his mum and ex-girlfriend to take them to the safest place he can think of ... the pub. This truly is a romantic comedy with the original twist being the zombies.

I was anxious to see this from the first moment I heard the premise, yet put it off for fear of the "R" rating (for zombie violence ... yes, that's actually what it says). There is plenty of warning for any such scenes and much of it is so fake that it doesn't matter. The directors are really good at combining our awareness that this is a zombie movie with Shaun's general cluelessness to provide many very funny jump scenes as well.

A Movie You Might Have Missed #20 — The Dish

It's been 10 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

This is a favorite of Tom's and the combination of gentle humor with realism is a winning combination.

In  1969, viewing the Apollo moon landing depends on a satellite dish in  Australia that is smack dab in the middle of a sheep pasture. Along with  everything else, the local technicians must deal with their natural  annoyance at having a NASA man foisted upon them to make sure everything goes ok while the locals feel understandable pride at being in the  center of an international spotlight.

Based on a true story, The Dish brims with understated wit that shows the differing cultural attitudes  between Australia and the U.S. while taking us back to the true wonder  of what it meant to watch a man walk upon the moon.

A Movie You Might Have Missed #19 — Howl's Moving Castle

It's been 10 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

19. Howl's Moving Castle

19-year-old Sophie has resigned herself to a drab life in her family's hat shop ... until she is cursed by an evil witch to have an 90-year-old body. She leaves home and goes searching for a way to break the spell. In the countryside she comes upon Howl's strange moving castle which walks about on large chicken legs.

Howl is the young wizard who owns the castle and Sophie soon becomes part of the household as the housekeeper. As she gets to know the members of the little household, we also see that their land is under attack from flying ships dropping bombs. Not only must Sophie find a way to break the curse upon her, but she soon wants to help the others that she has met along the way.

Naturally, Sophie eventually discovers her hidden potential in the magical castle through her honesty, determination, and bravery. This is a complicated story and my summary is extremely simple. It is a pure delight but be prepared to pay attention.

A Movie You Might Have Missed #18 — Reign Over Me

It's been 10 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

18. Reign Over Me

Don Cheadle is dissatisfied with his life. His marriage could be better, as could his dental practice in which he is being stalked by a patient. Trudging along through his routine he is surprised to see his college roommate (Adam Sandler) who he lost touch with long ago. Cheadle had heard that his roommate lost his family in the September 11 attacks and it is soon clear that Sandler welcomes his old roommate's friendship precisely because Cheadle never knew his family.

Although this movie has the potential to be a real downer as it examines grief from several angles, it does not fall into that trap. Thanks to the strength of friendships and comedy the movie wound up being uplifting.

A Movie You Might Have Missed #17 — Pan's Labyrinth

It's been 10 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.




This definitely is a fairytale for adults. Do not let the kids watch this one.

During the Spanish civil war in 1944, a young girl and her mother move to their new home with the mother's new husband, cruel Captain Vidal. In the midst of a risky pregnancy, the mother can't do much more than rest in bed while the girl, Ofelia, wanders the grounds and countryside. She soon discovers an entire underground world and is guided by the persuasive Faun in his labyrinth. He offers to help her if she'll complete three treacherous tasks. As Ofelia begins her tasks the viewer is left with the question of whether this alternate reality really exists or is imaginary. Del Toro leaves that up to the viewer. I know what I think ... but I've seen the movie!

(Warning: the Captain is a extremely violent and cruel character. If you think that he is going to do something terrible, just figure that he will. I didn't watch when violence threatened and didn't miss any important dialogue in the subtitles.)

Scott and I discussed this at A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast, episode 70.

A Movie You Might Have Missed #16: Regarding Henry

It's been 10 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

One of Harrison Ford's attempts to avoid typecasting shows just what a good actor he is, in this, our next stop. 

16. Regarding Henry

In one of his best performances, Harrison Ford plays Henry Turner, a top notch lawyer who is selfish and cold in his personal life with his wife and daughter. He goes out for some cigarettes and when displaying his trademark self-centeredness to a convenience store thief, Henry gets shot in the head. As Henry begins to struggle through recovery we see that his personality has undergone a distinct change. He is now human and humane although also slow mentally. Watching him unravel the mystery of why he always paints Ritz crackers as well as adjust to where he does and doesn't fit in at home and at the office are the heart of the story as we also reflect upon true humanity and how the truth often comes in ways we don't expect.

A Movie You Might Have Missed #15 — Friday Night Lights

It's been 10 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

15. Friday Night Lights

Texas, football, Billy Bob Thornton ... 'nuff said.

Well, maybe that's not enough for most people so I will 'splain.

Thornton is the coach of the Odessa, Texas, football team during a season where they have a shot at the championship. The locals are football crazy, especially as their economy has seen better days and this is their one outlet and hope for their children's futures. The fast, gritty, "real", jump-cut documentary-type style helps give a true sense-of-place. We see the coach's struggles on many levels as well as those of the players ... and it is a pretty accurate look at how Texans feel about football.

A Movie You Might Have Missed #14: How to Murder Your Wife

It's been 10 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

14. How to Murder Your Wife

Tom and I both remembered this movie from our childhoods and it was even funnier than I remembered. Jack Lemmon is a cartoonist and the ultimate New York playboy who, in a drunken interlude at a bachelor's party, marries the girl who pops out of the cake. She disappears after he has fantasized about killing her in his comic strip and he soon finds himself on trial for murder.

The movie not only satirizes the proverbial "battle of the sexes" a la 1965 but the stereotypes of many other things as well. It is, literally, laugh out loud funny. A special pleasure is Terry Thomas as Lemmon's valet who is entirely too bloodthirsty for comfort at the idea of murdering Lemmon's wife.

It is seriously politically incorrect so you really have to keep the satire in mind, depending on your mindset and ability to remember the common context of the 1960s.

A Movie You Might Have Missed #13: Bullets Over Broadway

It's been 10 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

13. Bullets Over Broadway

A struggling playwright (John Cusak) is forced to cast a gangster's moll in the star part of his play in order to get it produced in the Roaring 20's New York. The moll is talentless and the playwright soon discovers that one of her assigned bodyguards has more writing talent than he does. Cusak's character soon falls for an aging diva whose attentions just add to the confusion.

A light, slapstick piece, this is one of Woody Allen's best films, perhaps because he isn't in it. It also raises good questions about the artist's debt to the creative muse and the price one pays to create.

A Movie You Might Have Missed #12 — Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

It's been 10 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

 

Anyone who enjoyed the Wallace and Gromit shorts will enjoy this. Their British sense of humor and timing ... so funny.

Billed as "the world's first vegetarian horror movie," this finds Wallace and Gromit running a pest control service to help the villagers who want to grow prize-winning produce for their annual vegetable competition.

Loaded with ingenious Rube Goldberg inventions, spoofs of old monster movies and classic movies, and their trademark sight gags, this is a treasure for all ages.

A Movie You Might Have Missed #11: Payback

It's been 10 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

11. Payback

Porter knows his worth.

$70,000.

That is the amount that his erstwhile partner, who now works for the syndicate, stole after double crossing and leaving him for dead. And that is the amount Porter wants back. No more, no less. He will do whatever it takes to get it.

So begins the grittiest movie I have ever seen Mel Gibson in. Porter is the anti-heroes' "hero" so to speak, a guy who has only one goal and only one redeeming quality, which is his love for Rosie, the requisite hooker with a heart of gold. I suppose he actually could have two redeeming qualities, the second being his stubborn determination to take only the money that was stolen from him. (My full review here.)

A Movie You Might Have Missed #10: Double Indemnity

Be still my heart. Do not miss this classic.

It's been 10 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

10. Double Indemnity

A famous film that I, nevertheless, have to beat people over the head to watch. The screenplay is by director Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler and the dialogue crackles with iconic film noir style.

Fred MacMurray is the insurance salesman who comes up with the perfect murder scheme to rid femme fatale Barbara Stanwyck of her husband's annoying presence. Edward G. Robinson is MacMurray's boss, a wily insurance investigator who feels that things don't quite add up. Told in flash-back, the film nonetheless maintains dramatic tension the entire time.

Ironically, all three stars did not want to do the film. MacMurray and Stanwyck because they were cast against type as evil. Robinson because he was not the main star ... yet he carries the film at the end as his line sums up the movie perfectly.

A Movie You Might Have Missed #9: King Kong (1933)

t's been 10 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

King Kong (1933)

Reject all imitations. The original King Kong is one of my all-time favorite movies and a true classic in its own right.

It is a simple story: intrepid filmmaker, Carl Denham, leads an expedition to Skull Island where they discover a 50-foot gorilla who becomes enamored of Ann Darrow (Fay Wray). He is captured and brought back to New York City as the "8th wonder of the world" where he inevitably runs wild with Ann clutched in one hand and meets his death atop the Empire State Building.

The skill of the movie makers is such that it is still thoroughly enjoyable almost 90 years later. Fay Wray has a scream that could stop a freight train; you could hear it over practically anything that the movie threw at it. The animation was star quality at the time and you soon discover that it is not the animation but the story that carries a movie. (My review is here.)

A Movie You Might Have Missed #8 — Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang

It's been 10 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

8. Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang

A film that mocks film noir cliches while at the same time being a very satisfying mystery/action/buddy noir-ish film in its own right.

Robert Downey Jr. is a small-time thief who stumbles into an acting audition when on the lam from the cops. He aces the audition and is sent to Hollywood where he soon finds himself neck-deep in a murder mystery involving his childhood sweetheart. While shadowing detective Val Kilmer to learn more about his acting role, Downey Jr. becomes heavily involved in a second mystery as well.

Great fun, with fast-talking dialogue that will keep you on your toes. A nice companion piece to Brick; though completely different in feel, both movies mimic noir style while still standing on their own two legs.