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OtherOctober 4, 2014
I Saw Left Behind So You Don't Have To
You should not go see Left Behind . If you are an evangelical who thinks you need to supports every "Christian" movie made, regardless of it's artistic or theological quality, you should not go see th
You should not go see Left Behind.
If you are an evangelical who thinks you need to supports every "Christian" movie made, regardless of it's artistic or theological quality, you should not go see this movie.
If you somehow, against all odds, just thought this would be a good movie, do not go see this movie.
I'll be honest, I have never seen one of those "evangelical" movies like Fire Proof or God's Not Dead. I have no desire to, either.
But I saw Left Behind. And I saw it for one specific reason. One reason that makes this movie stand out above the rest:
That's right, Nicolas Cage stars in Left Behind.
So, needless to say, I went on opening night at the abandoned Valley View Mall AMC in Dallas. It was incredible. Here's why this movie was still the most amazingly terrible thing I've ever seen.
Acting
To say Nicolas Cage is acting in this movie would be a stretch. I'll just say that he put on a pilot costume and delivered lines. Luckily for him, he wore the same outfit the whole movie. The rest of the cast was just as bad, or worse. With a cameo from Lolo Jones, a supporting role for Martin Klebba (the little person from Pirates of the Caribbean), a small part from singer Jordin Sparks, and Lea Thompson there was some "star power" in this film.
The film is set in New York City, but was clearly filmed in Baton Rouge. The Baton Rouge airport as a stand in for JFK in NYC looks surprisingly nothing like JFK. They even neglected to remove Baton Rouge from certain scenes in the movie. There's even a critical scene in which Chloe, Nic's daughter in the film, climbs a bridge tower in order to presumably commit suicide. As she stands on the tower, the camera pans over what is clearly the Mississippi River. The filmmakers didn't even bother to make a fake NYC skyline for the scene.
That's right, Nicolas Cage stars in Left Behind.
So, needless to say, I went on opening night at the abandoned Valley View Mall AMC in Dallas. It was incredible. Here's why this movie was still the most amazingly terrible thing I've ever seen.
Acting
To say Nicolas Cage is acting in this movie would be a stretch. I'll just say that he put on a pilot costume and delivered lines. Luckily for him, he wore the same outfit the whole movie. The rest of the cast was just as bad, or worse. With a cameo from Lolo Jones, a supporting role for Martin Klebba (the little person from Pirates of the Caribbean), a small part from singer Jordin Sparks, and Lea Thompson there was some "star power" in this film.
The film is set in New York City, but was clearly filmed in Baton Rouge. The Baton Rouge airport as a stand in for JFK in NYC looks surprisingly nothing like JFK. They even neglected to remove Baton Rouge from certain scenes in the movie. There's even a critical scene in which Chloe, Nic's daughter in the film, climbs a bridge tower in order to presumably commit suicide. As she stands on the tower, the camera pans over what is clearly the Mississippi River. The filmmakers didn't even bother to make a fake NYC skyline for the scene.