The Book of Life

Hal Hartley directed this French-produced comedy about the Second Coming of Christ (Martin Donovan), with Thomas Jay Ryan in the role of Satan. While a gambler (David Simonds) and a waitress (Miho Nikaido) talk with Satan in a hotel bar, Jesus arrives at JFK airport with Magdalena (PJ Harvey). Jesus ...more

Henry Fool may have reached for a lot more than it could grasp, but independent figurehead Hal Hartley's follow-up doesn't even have high ambitions to excuse its failures. The only American entry in France's "Collection 2000" series of millennium-themed fare, The Book of Life is a glib exercise in kooky obscurantism -- the cinematic equivalent of hearing someone laugh at his own joke. It's hard to say what's more frustrating, the film's deliberately smeary digital-video palette or its ...more