The Worst Film Ever

Boring

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Letting Go of God is one of my favorite DVDs ever. I found Julia Sweeney to be extremely intelligent and well read. She obviously gave very careful consideration to her faith in God and found that even a good Catholic education and loving Catholic parents couldn't overcome the problems she uncovered with the Bible, her previous religions beliefs, and the beliefs of other religions in the world. In a country where over 70% claim to believe in God, calling yourself an atheist can require real courage, especially when you come from a religious family. Ms. Sweeny has that courage.For those of faith, it must be hard to give this DVD the rating it deserves since it describes a journey to becoming an infidel. I haven't seen any reviews that dispute Ms. Sweeney's claims about the bible. For most Christians who haven't read the bible, her claims about it should be a wake-up call. For those without faith who love this DVD, I recommend the recently released movie Agora. For those who liked it even though they still have their faith, I recommend the documentary For the Bible Tells Me So. For those who have outstanding questions and want to read more, I recommend Bart Ehrman's Jesus Interrupted and Why We Suffer.

I watched this last night on cable. I was intrigued by the other reviewers here so I gave it a shot. That was a mistake.Julia Sweeney was a fine character actor on SNL, but as a comedy writer, philosopher or theologian she is pathetic.One person stage shows rarely make interesting movies or television. This was no exception.Her jokes reached too far into incredulity. She pushed the premise of her jokes so far that you could tell she was trying desperately to make a joke out of something. One almost got to the point of rooting for her to find the punchline just so she could move on to the next topic. She's a much better performer than writer. She needs someone to write for her.As a philosopher Ms. Sweeney is easily confused. Again, trying to make light of deep questions is very hard, well beyond the means of Ms. Sweeney. One could see the point she should be coming to but then she missed it, sometimes intentionally just to make a joke, and usually a bad one at that.As a theologian Ms. Sweeney has a lot to learn. She tried to come off as this 'been there done that, I know better now' wise man but really most of her questions could have been answered by her local priest. She just didn't bother to ask the right people.Clearly Ms. Sweeney has lost her way spiritually. I understand the cancer scare and the profound effect it can have on someone who is self-centered. When all you think about is yourself, it's very hard to accept that bad things happen to you too. So, in an apparent act of revenge, she has sacrificed her faith in an effort to make a buck on this show and movie. It sounded like what she has done was pursue atheism with the intent of arriving there in a comical way so she could make a few bucks on it.I gave this movie a 2 instead of a 1 because of the good stagecraft. The set was nicely done and functional.

Julia Sweeney, best known from her days on "Saturday Night Live," lets the audience in on her quest for faith which ultimately led her to the revelation that she has none in "Letting Go of God." Watching one person speak for over two hours can be a bit taxing and difficult to sustain, but for Sweeney, it all comes naturally. She tells her story in a humorous and human way, often getting emotional as well as witty and casual. For the entire duration, she has the audience in her hand, as she talks in depth about childhood doubt, adulthood tragedies and the journey which led her to her ultimate conclusion: God is a figment of our imagination.For those who believe, Sweeney's monologue might be a tough pill to swallow, but rest assured, she speaks in a respectful manner, even relating to her parents who kept their faith as well as their relationship with their daughter in the wake of her newfound atheism. The message of the film is bold and gut-wrenching but ultimately inescapable. Julia is a great storyteller, and it's worth sitting down for a few hours and letting her tell you her story.

My religious road is very similar to Ms. Sweeney's (minus the trips to India and South America), and I was delighted to hear someone echo my very thoughts on the Bible and the life of Jesus.Ms. Sweeney's testimonial is direct, honest, and moving. She comes across as educated on the topics she is discussing, yet she explains everything in a very clear way. At no point does she sound preachy or pushy. She simply provides her story.My only criticism is that it's a bit too long. I felt like the monologue could have been more poignant had she broken it up with other types of segments (e.g. interviews with her family members, showing us her childhood church, etc.). The one-woman show is effective, but it felt long (at 2 hr. and 20 min. I believe).Either way, it's a stirring performance, and I would encourage everyone to watch it.