Son of God

Son of God is flat out the best life-of-Jesus movie made in the last half century . . .

Son of God
Starring Diogo Morgado, Roma Downey
In theaters Feb. 28 Rated PG-13
Run time: 138 min

If you were around in the late 1950s and early 1960s, you’ll remember the rush of Hollywood Bible films — from Ben Hur(1959) to The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), from The Ten Commandments (1956) to The Robe (1953).

Then there came a long drought of faith films from the world’s top filmmakers. Since the mediocre 1979 Jesus film, only Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ has caught the public’s attention. That’s about to change in 2014 with another promising blast of Bible films, including Noah (Russell Crowe) and Exodus (Christian Bale).

But only one project has ventured to tackle the life of Jesus, and it’s from Roma Downey (Touched By An Angel) and her husband Mark Burnett. The couple produced the extraordinarily successful The Bible miniseries on The History Channel last year — seen by well over 100 million people. They’ve taken the segment on the life of Christ and crafted it (with some scenes not used in the miniseries) into what is arguably the best movie about the life of Christ in the past half century. The film is already drawing praise from bishops and cardinals across the country — including Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Legatus’ ecclesiastical advisor Archbishop Jose Gómez.

Although the British-accented cast is mostly unknown to North American viewers, performances are consistent and convincing. Portuguese actor Diogo Morgado stars as Jesus, Darwin Shaw is Peter, and Downey is Mother Mary.

It’s no surprise that one of the most powerful couples in Hollywood was able to pull this off. Downey is one of the most recognizable faces in the world, while Burnett is the producer behind Survivor, The Voice and The Apprentice. The duo is not stopping with Son of God. They’re prepping a sequel to their miniseries titled A.D.: Beyond the Bible for NBC. With some divine assistance and success at the box office, the New Evangelization might just take root in Hollywood and beyond.

PATRICK NOVECOSKY is the Editor-in-Chief of Legatus magazine.