Review: An Interview With God
If you could ask God one question, what would it be?
Thats the intriguing notion posed by An Interview with God. The faith-based film, written and produced by Ken Aguado and directed by Perry Lang, had a limited, three-day run in theaters across the U.S. recently. My son-in-law, Tony, caught the trailer on Facebook and asked me and my husband, Pat, to join him for the screening.
We were blessed to witness a very special piece of Christian cinema with believable characters and a challenge to think about lifes big questions.
The film focuses on Paul Asher . Hes a religion columnist who recently returned home to New York after being embedded with U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. Ashers marriage is crumbling and his veteran friend suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Asher also is under severe stress from his experiences overseas, with covert suicidal ideations.
Then he encounters a man who claims to be God. He grants Asher three half-hour interviews on consecutive days. The Man, as hes identified in the script, is portrayed by longtime TV actor David Strathairn .
An Interview with God delivers deep and clear, complete yet simple thoughts on God acting in our lives, his wonderful plan for his children, and his great concern and love for us.
Lynda Sheehan
On another level, the film challenges us to be those whom God uses to help others as we share what God has done for us.
The Movie Was Made By Giving Films
That’s the same company that was behind 90 Minutes In Heaven and Paul, Apostle of Christ. The company donates all proceeds to charities and will focus on foster care for An Interview With God. The company’s mission is to fund films that will “entertain and spark conversations around life, faith and relationships,” according to a press release.
Movie Review: An Interview With God Gets 2/5 Stars
By Dustin SigginsPublished on August 26, 2018
Dustin Siggins
What would you say to God if you could ask Him anything? An Interview With God explores this question as war journalist Paul Asher sits down over three days with a man who claims to be God . Asher is at a low point in his life. His wife had an affair and left him and he is dealing with trauma from reporting in Afghanistan. His faith in God is being sorely tested.
Despite this creative and powerful premise, its not a very good movie. The movies failure to draw the viewer into the protagonists struggle contrasts sharply with movies such as Indivisible and Hacksaw Ridge, where the struggle seems real. Most of An Interview With God is simply flat and stale.
Warning: Major spoilers ahead.
God Almost Saves The Day
Strathairn plays the God Christians might expect. He loves us, He wants whats best for us, but Hes also not going to give us all of the answers. As the viewing audience will intimately understand, Asher finds himself frustrated and confused when talking with God even though they are face-to-face!
One of the movies most emotional scenes is when God tells Asher he is just about out of time. Asher gets angry at being told he will die soon, but he says no when God asks if he would like to know the exact time and date. When asked later why he told Asher about his pending death, God says that he thought a journalist would appreciate deadlines.
A Few Good Moments Cant Overcome The Rest
What Did He Learn?
Also Check: How To Email Someone After An Interview
An Interview With God Movie Review
by David Bradshaw, My Idea Factory
Imagine youve been given a golden opportunity to sit down with the Creator of the universe face-to-face, in the flesh, and youre finally able to get answers to all those troubling questions you have about life, death, heaven, hell, etc.
In An Interview With God moviegoers are invited into three private conversations between God and Paul Asher an accomplished young NYC newspaper reporter who just returned from covering the war in Afghanistan to find his marriage on the rocks which has caused a wavering of his Christian faith.
The movie begins with Pauls statement: God works in mysterious ways. God quickly affirms that the Almighty is indeed a mystery. However, the rest of the movie contradicts this God is a mystery premise as Paul attempts to grasp the mind of God by requesting airtight answers to the biggest questions humans have struggled with since Day One.
Paul eases into his first interview of the divine, set in a New York City park, by asking introductory questions laced with sarcasm to signal his disbelief. Then the interview quickly shifts into reverse, as God begins interviewing Paul instead.
Paul hesitates posing such often-asked questions as, Why do bad things happen to good people? He then attempts to move the conversation deeper with questions such as, Is the soul immortal?Do I need salvation? and Why do humans have free will?
What Is An Interview With God
An Interview with God is a Christian drama film that had a limited theatrical run in August 2018 and was added to Netflix on March 1. The film focuses on a series of one-on-one conversations between a young war veteran turned journalist named Paul Asher and a man claiming to be Godyes, God, capital G God. The film was directed by Perry Lang, who has directed a whole bunch of TV over the past 20 years . An Interview with God was written by Ken Aguado, who also produced the film.
You May Like: How To Crack Microsoft Program Manager Interview
It Gets A Lot Of The Theology Correct
We learn God always has existed. His word is the Bible. He expects us to obey His commandments. There’s nothing we can do to escape His love. He takes salvation very seriously. From a Christian perspective, it succeeds in some areas where The Shack movie failed. Paul tells God: “Jesus was super clear in John 14:6: ‘I am the way, no one comes to the Father but through me.'” God responds: “Seems very clear to me.” Later, God adds, “Everyone has their own journey but there is only one path.”
An Interview With God
An up-and-coming journalist finds his world and faith increasingly challenged when he’s granted the interview of a lifetime – with someone who claims to be God.An up-and-coming journalist finds his world and faith increasingly challenged when he’s granted the interview of a lifetime – with someone who claims to be God.An up-and-coming journalist finds his world and faith increasingly challenged when he’s granted the interview of a lifetime – with someone who claims to be God.
-
: No problem you showing up in a photo?
: Well, I’m a deity, not a vampire…
: I gotta say, you look human enough to me.
: And you know, you look God-like to me.
Read Also: What Are Good Questions To Ask At A Job Interview
Things You Should Know About An Interview With God
Paul Asher is a talented reporter who is having a crisis of faith. He once believed in God, but a visit to war-torn Afghanistan changed all that. He now questions everything he was taught about religion.
He also has a crumbling marriage. And he’s battling emotions and thoughts from seeing soldiers die.
What will it take to rescue him? Perhaps an interview with the Almighty would help.
That’s exactly what Paul gets: three sit-down interviews with God, 30 minutes apiece. Will it help?
Here’s my movie review and what you need to know:
It May Not Be For Small Kids
There’s only a couple of “craps” and a misuse of “God,” but the film also contains discussion of an affair by Paul’s wife. Paul himself also has a romantic interest .
Entertainment rating: 4 out of 5 stars. Family-friendly rating: 4 out of 5 stars.
An Interview With God is unrated. Visit AnInterviewWithGod.com
Don’t Miss: How To Prepare For Rn Interview
An Interview With God Is Convicting
Paul wants to talk to God, but only on his own terms. He doesn’t want to discuss his crumbling marriage. Finally, God forces the issue. “You have no secrets from me,” God says, to which Paul retorts, “Yeah, I do! My personal life is off-limits.” God then tells Paul, “I would like to help you if you would let me.” How many times throughout the week are we like Paul?
But It Has A Few Head
Paul asks God, “If we’re saved through faith and faith alone, why would anyone follow all the other rules?” God responds: “But is faith all it takes? I think you have a misunderstanding about the nature of faith.” Is this a reference to faith without works being dead ? Perhaps. Asked if the Torah and the New Testament are the Word of God, God says, “Of course. But as understood by man and as translated by man.” Many Christians will be troubled by God referencing the times of Noah and saying, “Was I too vengeful back then? Maybe.” Hell is never discussed Paul doesn’t ask about it although God does say that Satan is “real” but “overrated.” Satan, we’re told, only has the power that is given to him.
You May Like: What Are Questions They Ask At A Job Interview
Who Is In The An Interview With God Cast
Brenton Thwaites and David Straithairn are the two stars of the film, playing the journalist and the man. Thwaites had a breakthrough moment in 2014 when he starred in the film adaptation of The Giver. Since then hes appeared in the films Gods of Egypt and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Recently hes taken on a very high-profile role as the latest in a long line of actors to bring the superhero Robin to life. Thwaites plays an edgier version of Batmans no-longer-a-kid sidekick on the DC Universe original series Titans.
David Straithairn is a veteran actor who was nominated for an Academy Award for playing a journalist back in 2005s Good Night, and Good Luck. He also appeared in the Bourne franchise playing a CIA director and appeared in Steven Spielbergs Lincoln as the secretary of state. He previously won an Emmy for the TV movie Temple Grandin. More recently hes had major roles on The Expanse, Billions, The Blacklist, and Alphas.
The film also stars Hill Harper as an editor, who is on ABCsThe Good Doctor and previously appeared on Homeland, Covert Affairs, and CSI: NY. Yael Grobglas plays Pauls wife Sarah Grobglas previously appeared on and Reign .
An Interview With God Review
An Interview with God is a unique, thought provoking and well produced film that is a great discussion starter covering the themes of who God is, and wondering what questions we would ask God while looking at our lives and faith.
The film follows journalist Paul Asher, who has just covered the war in Afghanistan, ending up with some of the best stories of his young career. Paul returns home and is struggling to deal with the effects of his experiences in Afghanistan, a failing marriage and his dying faith. Not knowing what to do or where to turn, Paul dives deeply into interviewing a mysterious man claiming to be God. Paul sits down with this mysterious man over the course of three days and find himself answering as many questions as he asks. Wrestling with what he knows and what he is unsure of, he finds himself at a crossroads.
An Interview with God is very well made, produced and directed, with an original and gripping storyline however at times it seems this unique concept of a story goes slightly off. It is heavy on the theology which for the most part is correct but there are a few lines when God is speaking that dont seem quite right.
As said, the story is good, the production is good and the acting from David Strathairn and Brenton Thwaites is great, really making this a gripping and thrilling film.
Don’t Miss: A New York Times Poll On Women’s Issues Interviewed 1025
