The Passion of the Christ

el Gibson’s intentions have been debated into the ground. So have his religious politics. All that aside, this is a dire, exasperating film. The pacing is irregular, marred by Gibson’s insistence on the use of subtitled Aramaic. The story, which depends preternaturally on heroism and moral courage, rams fast and furious into the violence of Christ’s death. Comfortable with that supremely bloody drama, it won’t relinquish it. Use the verisimilitude defense if you wish: that the real thing wasn’t pretty, so why sugar coat it. The problem is that Jim Caviezel, given space, can actually act, and is instead made an indentured servant to Gibson’s action-movie vision.