Such a frustrating disappointment

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

This is a very complicated movie, with implications that some people probably will not want to consider. If you can go with the premise and not have a cow at the implications, this is an excellent movie that raises some interesting questions about, God, the universe, relationships and a few more subjects.The overlying plot has God deciding he has had enough of mankind and that he wants the covenant he made with Moses back. To that end he has several angels manipulate events so that a child can be produced who will be able to find the tablets it was written on and return them to heaven. The main plot has to to with the relationship between Onno, Max and Ada, three friends who unwittingly end up the focal point of the divine plot. It would be futile to try to simply explain the plot further since the film is very novel like in its structure and its unfolding.This is a wonderful, heady film that makes you care deeply about all of the characters It also does what great films do, which is make you stop to think about what you believe, while telling you a damn good story. The more I think about it, the more I really like it.The performances, with one exception are first rate. I think this is probably the best thing that Stephen Fry has done to date. His Onno is a wonderful cad, who is also a loving father. A wonderful, Oscar worthy performance.The one exception are the young actors who portray Quentin. The performances are a bit uneven and don't make up a cohesive whole so that when we end up with the actor playing Quentin at 17, we don't particularly care for him much. You do warm to him, but it takes a while.(His part is also a bit odd which doesn't help.) I can't recommend this movie enough. Its a great great film that seems to have gotten lost on its way to a large part of the world. Its the cinematic equivalent of curling up with a really good novel. If you run across this film make an effort to go see, rent or tape it. You may not love it like me, but you certainly will be happy you saw it.

Having read the book several times, and loving it, I was hesitant of seeing the movie. I do not normally like literature turned in to movie. It is like putting paintings into music. The movie is not all that bad, but there are several things I did not like about it. Why are the speaking English? Ridiculous, that is prostituting your language, synchronise it if you want to for the foreign market. Second, Jeroen Krabe is trying to hard and not able enough.There was a high craftsmanship in the making of it, and was filmed well, but the effects at the end where best left out. I give it an 8 out of 10. Pieter

After going to the cinema to view this unusual movie, we decided to purchase it when it came out on DVD. After viewing it again, we were glad we purchased this movie. Jeroen Krabbe did a splendid job of directing it, and the cast was perfect for their roles. I am trying to obtain a copy of this book in English, and my boyfriend has read it in its original language and loved it very much. We give it a definite 2 thumbs up!

There is a lot to say about the movie, but I think you should enjoy it yourself. For me it was balancing the odds. First of all Harry Mulisch is not your average writer. I could never get into his books. You might wonder why bother? Well that can be told in two words 'the Assault'. It got a Oscar, but even beyond that. The movie is an amazing story about the life of a boy that changes when a collaborator is executed in front of his house. The second factor was Jeroen Krabbe. He is an okay actor. Over the big international field nothing fantastic but for Dutch terms one of the best actors we have. When I saw his movie 'left luggage' I was totally overwhelmed. As a director he is at least 10 times better then as an actor. These factors made me check out 'The Discovery of Heaven.' The book I could never read. Well, it was an amazing journey. From the very beginning you will be mesmerized with the images of places unlike you would expect. The dialogues, the personality of the people and the settings. It is almost like the settings in the world politics were set up especially for these events. I think that the most amazing part is that you can go through the dialogues without ever wondering when the next action scene will be. Jeroen plays with the settings like they are part of the conversation itself.But what is it about? Well apparently god is not too pleased with the way the world turns. So he decides to remove his influence. This can only be done by sending someone down to get the tablets. So two men will meet a woman, the beautiful Ada Brons (Flora Montgomery) one will become the father and the child will grow up slowly receiving the images that will lead to the tablets containing the 10 commandments. The only problem is that time is running out. God's deadline must be met. I can't wait to get this one on DVD.