Watch The Visual Bible: Matthew For Free

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

I'll tell you why so serious

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

My opinion is nestled somewhere between the glowing reviews and the scathing rebukes of others.Marchiano's Jesus isn't completely repugnant (as is Jeremy Sisto's air-headed "Jesus" insulting portrayal), but I am never left feeling inspired or edified after viewing, either. I neither love nor hate the fact that I bought the movie prior to knowing anything about it. I'm filled with ambivalence about this film.It's impossible to mess up the script since it's word-for-word from the NIV Bible (which might repel KJV purists), but it is possible to mess up what is revealed about the character of the Christ. Horse-play with the guys, Bruce? Really? Did He really fancy Himself a stand-up comedian during His magnificent Sermon on the Mount? What was the director thinking? What was Marchiano thinking to not mutiny at this point? Did either of them think at all? I find the scene based on chapter 7 unsettling and more than a little insulting, so I fast forward through it.I don't need Jesus to be robotic like Robert Powell's depiction, and certainly not a childish flirt like Jeremy Sisto's Jesus, but something was also missing for me in Marchiano's performance, which cannot be blamed on bad scripting.I know what my problem is with this "Matthew": The first of the Visual Bible trilogy that I watched was "The Gospel of John" with Henry Ian Cusick in the role of the Christ. He became my personal gold standard for a wonderfully balanced presentation of the Son of God. Layered and nuanced to perfection, not inappropriately morose, and never silly, but showing a full range of expected emotions, actions and reactions to 1st century Israel dwellers. He covered all the emotions with great respect and reverence. I like that! It's my prayer that Marchiano realizes he's now aged out of repeating the role of Jesus and looks for more appropriate scripts to toy around with. For all the experience he's had in sundry Jesus roles (I really liked his contemporary Jesus in "The Encounter"), you'd think he'd have it honed to perfection. There's no rehearsal time left, Bruce; your Jesus days are over. Let's see you try to act as playful and frivolous with John the Revelator in a production of The Apocalypse!

I've seen both the Passion and this movie. In the Passion, Jesus is joking with Mary about a table he had just built. It was a segment that warmed my heart, made me smile and pulled the GOD Jesus a bit closer to me , making it easier for me to touch. BUt that was about it as far a warmth. I absolutely was blown away by the Passion. After seeing THIS movie, I realized how the the Passion could, in fact, be a FAR FAR BETTER movie if it blended a bit more of THIS Jesus.I shake my head because now I realize that THE PASSION could have an EVEN GREATER impact on my heart and emotions if THE Christ in the PASSION was portrayed a bit more like Bruces, Christ. I would have fallen in love with the Christ in the PASSION even MORE. Thus making the incredible suffering he endured even more shocking and regrettable.

This is the BEST Jesus movie I have ever seen. Everything said by Jesus and the narrator in this movie are exact words that come directly from the Bible. This also greatly portrays the actual character of Jesus Christ I highly recommend this movie.

I didn't like this movie at first. The production quality is that of a "B" movie and I let that get in the way of my objectivity. I was also not used to seeing Jesus portrayed as...well...human! This Jesus laughs and hugs and enjoys his friends. We are usually treated to a Jesus that is somewhat detached or "royal" in his bearing (think Jeffrey Hunter in "King of Kings"). This is not the case in this film. Once I got used to it (and IMHO this is a more accurate representation of Jesus) I really liked it!I couldn't believe that this movie follows scripture line for line. The scripture verses are actually displayed (in the lower left corner as I recall) as they are being portrayed. I expected that approach would make the film disjointed or uninteresting. But it really works well.This has become my favorite "religious movie", and I watch it with my family every Easter season.