The Book of Eli

Genre: Action/Adventure, Science Fiction/Fantasy and Western
Run time: 1 hr, 58 min
Rating: R for some brutal violence and language
Starring: Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, Jennifer Beals
Synopsis: In the not-too-distant future, some 30 years after the final war, a solitary man walks across the wasteland that was once America. Empty cities, broken highways, seared earth--all around him, the marks of catastrophic destruction. There is no civilization here, no law. The roads belong to gangs that would murder a man for his shoes, an ounce of water... or for nothing at all.

But they're no match for this traveler.

A warrior not by choice but necessity, Eli seeks only peace but, if challenged, will cut his attackers down before they realize their fatal mistake. It's not his life he guards so fiercely but his hope for the future; a hope he has carried and protected for 30 years and is determined to realize. Driven by this commitment and guided by his belief in something greater than himself, Eli does what he must to survive--and continue.

Only one other man in this ruined world understands the power Eli holds, and is determined to make it his own: Carnegie, the self-appointed despot of a makeshift town of thieves and gunmen. Meanwhile, Carnegie's adopted daughter Solara is fascinated by Eli for another reason: the glimpse he offers of what may exist beyond her stepfather's domain.

But neither will find it easy to deter him. Nothing--and no one--can stand in his way. Eli must keep moving to fulfill his destiny and bring help to a ravaged humanity.

* * * * * * * * * *

This was yet another movie that I nearly shut off in the first ten minutes...it reminded me a little too much of "I Am Legend"...a movie I truly did not enjoy. However, a friend recommended it, so I stuck with it, and I'm actually glad that I did. Now I'm not sure if the producers did this on purpose but about half way through the movie I realized a double entendre in the title...for those who may (or may not) know anything about ancient or Biblical Hebrew, "Eli" is the word for God...so this can be read as "The Book of Eli" or "The Book of God."

Now I may be giving a bit of the plot away, but the book that Eli is carrying with him across the country, is supposed to be the only surviving copy of the Bible...the Book of God. Once I realized that, my views on the movie changed dramatically. Now, was it the best movie ever made...probably not...but it did get me thinking.

The plot and the two main characters in this movie revolve around this book. Eli (Denzel Washington) is sworn to protect the book until he reaches the location shown to him by God where the Book will be safe. Carnegie (Gary Oldman) wishes to possess the book so that he can prey on the fears and superstitions of the people to give him more power. Now I do hate to give away more of the plot, but my favorite line has to be put into context.

According to the back story, after the near destruction of the planet, all the Bibles were burned because the powers that be felt that the war and destruction were caused by religion. Eli, who survived, heard the voice of God which led him to the only remaining copy of the Bible. He was told to take it to a place where it would be safe and as long as it was in his possession he would be protected. This of course causes a problem for Carnegie who wants the Book. In the middle of all this is Solara (Mila Kunis) who leaves Carnegie's makeshift town to follow Eli. When Carnegie catches up to the two of them, he threatens to kill Solara if Eli doesn't give him the book. Carnegie gets the book, takes Solara, shoots Eli and leaves him for dead. When Solara escapes and returns to Eli she asks him why he gave up the book...

"All the years I've been carrying it, reading it every day, I got so caught up with keeping it safe, I forgot to live by what I learned from it."

I wonder how many of us could say that?

I'm really not sure whether or not I should recommend this movie. Although a little strange, a little violent (but not graphically so), a few too many f-bombs, this movie was truly inspired and moving. However, take to heart that it's not for everyone, and definitely not for the casual viewer.

Tooth Fairy

So, I went on vacation thoroughly planning on maintaining this blog...but failed at that attempt. So, now that my vacation is over, I'm back to blogging about movies...and go figure, this is the first movie that I'm going to blog about...I've really got to broaden my current viewing patterns...

Genre: Comedy and Kids/Family
Run time: 1 hr, 42 min
Rating: PG for mild language, some rude humor and sports action
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Ashley Judd, Julie Andrews
Synopsis: "The Tooth Fairy," also known as Derek Thompson, is a hard-charging hockey player whose nickname comes from his habit of separating opposing players from their bicuspids. When Derek discourages a youngster's dreams, he's sentenced to one week's hard labor as a real tooth fairy, complete with the requisite tutu, wings and magic wand. At first, Derek "can't handle the tooth" - bumbling and stumbling as he tries to furtively wing his way through strangers' homes-doing what tooth fairies do. But as Derek slowly adapts to his new position, he begins to rediscover his own forgotten dreams.


About 10 minutes into this movie I couldn't believe that I was actually watching it. But considering that I was jet lagged and didn't really want to do anything else (especially get my butt up off the couch and change the DVD) I left it in and finished it...and in some ways I'm glad that I did. Although this movie is a bunch of silliness about Derek Thompson (Dwayne Johnson) who is a hockey player by day and "paroled" tooth fairy by night, there was one scene in the movie that especially stood out to me.


The head Tooth Fairy, Lily (Julie Andrews), is standing in her office ripping Thompson a new one about his attitude and how terrible he is as a tooth fairy. She tells him off for killing kids dreams and ruining their "belief" in all things magical. She tells him that children's imaginations and fantasies "nourish their souls and are the foundations for their dreams."


I started to think about that statement throughout the rest of the movie as Thompson becomes a better tooth fairy, and in the process becomes a better person. Jesus once said "except you become like little children..." now a lot of different people have speculated as to the exact meaning of that statement: did he mean their innocence? their ability to believe easily? Maybe it was both. But this movie reminded me of one thing: childhood is a wonderful time of belief, magic, and dreams. How often do we allow the disappointments of life interfere with the better parts of ourselves? Dreams die and with them so do our "souls." We become angry, bitter people and do our best to make people see the "reality" that is life.


Although the reality of this life is that the world is sinful and is slowly, but surely destroying itself, there is an element of "magic" that can still be found. If we allow ourselves to return to the innocent belief of childhood, we may once again find that although things may not always go our way, God is still very much present and waiting to "heal" our disillusionment and despair.