The Lady in the Water

It is probably the best movie this summer.  It creates its own world and draws you in.  Forget the bad reviews from writers who do not take obscure Catholic theological debates seriously (well…theology is not my cup of tea either, but I will pretend for the movie’s sake.  If you can accept the Jedi…).  The absurd parts of the film, like the descent of the monkeys, are supposed to be absurd.  It is about the miracle (yes miracle, as in miraculous) of the incarnation, the fact that anyone can be special, our stumbles toward the truth, the apparent arbitrariness of earthly justice, and most of all that we have no choice but to believe in something "absurd."  The strongest connection, of course, is to The Book of Job and then to Lewis’s Narnia.  The film also has a first-rate sense of humor, which is increasingly rare in Hollywood today.

Here is one good (Christian) review.  It is no surprise that the Catholic Kelly Jane Torrance also liked it.  Yet the movie bombed.  It is sad to think that Hollywood is about to neuter one of America’s most accomplished and original filmmakers.

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