Inspired by Terrence McNally's Passion Play told through the lens of a young gay Jesus, Corpus Christi follows a group of actors who began production on the play seven years ago in a small church. Within months they suddenly found themselves thrust in the world spotlight touring to international acclaim. The documentary follows the troupe and the playwright sharing their stories with supporters and protesters as they continue their tour across the world to communities where hate and bigotry are much more prevalent. Mirroring the reflections of dialogue in society today, especially in regards to civil rights, marriage equality, HIV/AIDS, and separation of church and state, this production has become a vehicle of change for a community struggling to find it's voice. Meanwhile, the company of actors find themselves on a journey that would forever change their lives.
J**N
pretty good movie about a pretty bad play
The problem with this documentary movie is that the play at its center is badly written - so bad that hearing just a few lines of it is enough to make me cringe. People have complained that this movie doesn't show the full play, but I'm grateful it doesn't. I assume they included the best parts, so the rest of it must be even worse.I love Terrence McNally very much as a person, but as a writer he's not that good. His writing is pretentious and clumsy, and it never sounds like real human beings talking. If he weren't gay, weren't a very attractive, compassionate and charismatic man, and didn't therefore have an automatic following in the gay community, I think he'd probably have had to spend his life doing something else.The bad actors who are putting on the play's 2006 revival in LA don't help any, but the play itself is so leaden and contrived that I don't think ANY actors could bring it to life. What's most disturbing about this movie is not the virulent but oh-so-predictable opposition to it from "Christians" - whose loudest spokespeople are always the stupidest - but the fact that so much energy was wasted on such an embarrassingly bad play. (McNally's claim in this movie - that the opposition from fundamentalist Christians came as a total surprise to him - is not credible. NO one could be that naive.)That's too bad, because the concept - a strong and loving gay Jesus - is fantastic. I just wish a more talented playwright would rise to the challenge and give us a play that's WORTH fighting for.
R**N
Makes me want to see the play
I've never had a chance to see Terrence McNally's play, so it was very interesting to watch this one company's journey to staging the play and their continued productions. This was all happening while legalizing same-sex marriage was still being debated in the country. Especially telling were the interviews of people protesting the play not having seen or read the the play: more of examples of objecting to something that they have no information about. The people mounting this production are interesting characters in their own right, so it's nice spending this time with them.
L**S
Some Eunuchs Are Born That Way
I only wish it had been a copy of the play itself. But it describes a play that if it ever gets shown in my area, I am going ot see. What IF Jesus was more than a man? What if he never needed to Marry because he was Gay, an Eunuch in the old understanding of the term eunuch. Why did Jesus say Matthew 19:12? Could he have been explaining himself to the world? He said "Some eunuchs are born that way...."
J**N
Good DVD
This is a documentary of the play, as the public protest about a gay Jesus, as one of the guys play Jesus, and as each one talks about their own feelings, and background stories of their lives.
K**R
Good Documentary
This is not the film of the play. This is the documentary of a troupe of players from Corpus Chirsti, Texas and their journey of presenting the play over a period of years. I bought the copy of the script and there are some scenes in the documentary that are not in the script..I would highly recommend purchasing it and watching it.
L**Z
Insightful, but I wanted to see the whole play ...
Insightful, but I wanted to see the whole play. This is just a biography of the production, not the entire play. But still very entertaining.
A**L
Three Stars
thought this was actually the play. disappointing.am really not interested in the "making of".
J**R
Four Stars
A moving story. Only negative was lack of captioning.
