Brilliant and touching

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

"The Trials of Ted Haggard" is an American television documentary from 2009, so this HBO production is also already almost a decade old and this one was written and directed by Emmy nominee Alexandra Pelosi (yep she's the daughter) and this one here focuses on the rise, well no, mostly the fall of Ted Haggard. We find out what happened to him that resulted in his fall from grace and how he lives today among people like you or me. I guess he is a household name in the United States looking at how the liberal media here mocked him in the most disrespectful way possible, but here in Europe, he really isn't famous at all I must say and from what I saw in here, this won't change anytime soon. I never really understood why I should care for who he was or who he became. Oh well,there were still some interesting moments somehow and the man is a bit of a shining character still and the film is somewhat insightful occasionally, maybe more than it should be in terms of private life that is not meant for public disposure. So it's not a failure I guess, but I'd only recommend it as a whole to those who cared for Haggard before already as this film won't make you care. So I give it a thumbs-down as a whole. Not recommended.

The film was a refreshing look at Ted Haggard. Living in Europe, I'm not that deep into the whole evangelical thing, but I knew him first from The Root of All Evil, that was made by Richard Dawkins. And I knew the scandal of course. But I didn't know that the aftermath would be like this. I had sort of expected that the church would somehow gloss over it, and that he only had to keep a low profile. (On the other hand they let him back to Colorado after a year and a half.) I could certainly sympathize with him.Anyway, what I thought was a problem with the documentary was that while on the one side, he was confessing, confessing and confessing. Plus, he was giving a couple of kicks to the church for being very unforgiving. All very well, but what if there was something wrong with the ideals of the church, religion and bible in the first place? Maybe he didn't betray the church so much as he betrayed himself? I would have liked to see some probing into whether or not he had given this some thought, rather than very predictable Christian masochistic repentance. Maybe it's too early for real soul searching, but I couldn't help feeling that he just wanted back in to continue as he had done before.

First, I'd like to thank Alexandra Pelosi for this movie. I found it to be a very telling account of Ted Haggard's story, all in less than 45 minutes. I trust that other busy viewers like myself would really appreciate that part :) The Trials of Ted Haggard is the touching story of a man who has fallen from grace and ousted, judged and kicked while he was down by the Church that he himself founded.I think this story can be appreciated by both religious and non-religious viewers. There are lessons for both. Understandably, religious viewers might be disturbed and offended by the fact that this movies takes Ted Haggard's point of view and some of the resulting implications. But then, there's plenty here that may offend non-religious viewers.At the end, what I found most fascinating is the dichotomy of Ted's personality. As I watched, I asked myself, how can a man with so much charisma and leadership be so naive and trusting to think that his sins would be accepted. Did he not realize that as a leader with a very large following he had to live by higher standards than the average church member? Of course Church members would be offended and feel betrayed. At the same time, I felt like reaching out to Ted... letting him know that I can see all the good in him... that as a secular person, I can appreciate his accepting and generous nature without judging him on moral or religious grounds. For me, the story just says – would this world be so much better if all of us were more like Ted Haggard; accepting, loving, a little too naïve...? Ted - In case you read this review... know that there are people out there who accept you as you are. Not necessarily because Jesus said so, but because we recognize that you have helped many people and being who you are is not designed to hurt anyone. Any true friend would continue to support you, especially at an hour of need.

Unlike Alexandra Pelsoi's first documentary on Evangelicals, this documentary on Ted Haggard's post-scandal life, is free of the critical stance of its predecessor. She takes a neutral and, for the most part, impartial stance towards the fallen preacher.Haggard seems genuinely repentant for his double-life; his commitment to his Christian faith appears to be genuine. Unlike, however, the four preachers who were "appointed" to "supervise" his "spiritual recovery". Rather than following the core Christian precepts of "judge not, lest ye be judged" and "hate the sin, not the sinner," his "redemption supervisors" and successors at the mega-church that Haggard founded, have instead shunned him and not only have failed to forgive him but have, at least as its presented in Ms. Pelosi's docu, continued to actively persecute him. They made him leave his home, "banishing" from Colorado, thus forcing him & his family, into a nomadic existence of hotel rooms and tiny apartments. They also insisted that he refrain from preaching and get a "secular" job despite the fact that he's never held a job outside the ministry.One of the most poignant parts of this film was Haggard's unsuccessful attempts to find that secular job, whether distributing door hangers for a mortgage "help" service or selling insurance door-to-door.What shocked me the most, was the treatment meted out to his wife and two teen-aged sons who did nothing wrong except to stand by and love their husband and father in an unconditional and Christian manner (as far I understand the Christian concept of forgiveness as I admit I am not a Christian).In summary, despite Haggard's failings and formerly hypocritical double life, he and his family have received no succor from their former "friends" and fellow-parishioners. In fact, when he sent an email to a small group of friends asking for donations to help support his family, one of them leaked it to the media who, along with his "redemption supervisors", proceeded to rake him over the coals.He was never one of those preachers that condemned gays as some evangelical ministers do. Had he, I imagine that Ms. Pelosi would have found video and included it in the docu. Thus I found it doubly ironic that he should be treated so harshly by the men allegedly concerned with his "redemption." One last word on Mike Jones, the man whom Haggard paid for sex and, allegedly, drugs. This drug dealer and prostitute is doing everything he can to capitalize on his illegal behavior and Ted Haggard's misery. I found him absolutely disgusting.Though I do not share Haggard's beliefs, I can only hope he and his family will be able to find some happiness; and perhaps he'll one day return to the vocation he so clearly loves: preaching to Gospel.The film is well-worth watching whatever one's opinion of evangelical Christianity is. It shows a man who made huge mistakes and is paying for them in a heart-rending and brutal manner.