Paul Apostle Of Christ Film Review

Director: Andrew Hyatt

Producers: David Zelon, T J Beden

Running Time: 106 mins

Genre: Biography, Drama, Adventure

Distributed By: Sony Pictures

Budget: $5,000,000

The Film

This film covers the life of the Apostle Paul and how he was really the figure behind the formation of the Churches before his execution. The film begins with Luke entering Rome in secret to meet with Paul. Paul has been imprisoned by Nero for his Christian beliefs as Nero thinks he is a threat to him. Luke wants to try and persuade Paul to write about his Christian knowledge as Paul wants to write a book. After Jesus' death and resurrection Paul travels around the Roman Empire spreading the word of God and trying to build Churches. Captured by Emperor Nero, here he is stuck in prison and bound by chains.

Luke, a physician, wants to write a book about the beginnings of the Church, but is risking his life by approaching Paul. With Nero wanting to rid Rome of Christians, the film takes us through the trials the men went through and the persecution that the Christians went through at the time. Throughout the film, we see the extraordinary journey that Paul and Luke went through for the sake of their faith. With Paul already gone through so much and is now locked up in the most appalling prison, it is interesting to see this part of the Bible brought to the big screen and the suffering that Christians went through.

With Easter approaching, I think this film was released at the right time. As I sat watching the film, it made me realise what Christians went through at the time and the sheer torment that these people suffered. Jesus paid with his life on the cross, and after his death and resurrection, his apostles still went through the suffering and pain just because of their faith. They wanted to carry on spreading the word of God and this film shows us what people like Paul went through for their faith.

It is interesting to know that the actor who plays Luke, Jim Caviezel, played Jesus in the 2004 film, The Passion of the Christ. The film provides a few flashbacks to Paul's life so the viewer gets a bit of an insight into what has happened previously in his life. Although you don't really get to see any direct violence, you do get the sense that Christians are being persecuted. By this I mean you get to see the aftermath of the brutality that happened at the time and the way the Romans treated the Christians. There is quite of bit of blood in the film, so you might want to be careful if there is children watching this.

The acting I found really good, especially the actors who played the main characters of the Apostles Paul and Luke. By seeing the kind of conditions that Paul was in when he was in prison, the viewer gets a real sense of the sheer dismal surroundings he was experiencing. It made me sad to think that he was being treated this way just because of his faith. My heart did go out to him. The portrayal of Paul is excellently told in this film. And with his good friend Luke with him, it shows us just what Rome was like and what people went through. Watching this movie has left me wanting to read up about Paul again in the Bible and learn more about him.

If you've not seen this yet, I would recommend it if you are interested in this genre of film. 10/10 from me.