American Jesus (2013)

American Jesus: Directed by Aram Garriga. With Keenan Smith, Mara Einstein, Mickey Stonier, Douglas Rushkoff. “American Jesus” is an exploration of Christianity in every faction of American Life, from the bread line to the yoga studio, from the humble churches of snake handlers to the mega churches of the ex-urbs. Christian cowboys, bikers and musicians, comedians, surfers and cage-fighters, they are all doing it for Christ. Aram Garriga travels from his native Barcelona to the politically divided United States to chronicle the sometimes bizarre relationship between faith, materialism, politics and personal passions in this uniquely American tableaux. Populated by an array of religious and secular characters offering candid, often illuminating testimonials, American Jesus is a vivid mosaic of personalities and conflicting points of view that emerges as a portrait of an America yearning for solace and meaning in the modern world.

“Does a good job of objectively portraying the breadth and diversity of all the weirdest and quirkiest subgroups that have born out of the American Evangelical church. I would highly recommend it to anyone whose grown up in the church. It definitely challenges a lot of preconceptions. Itu0026#39;s visually stunning and well crafted. The only downside is the narrative, which (without a narrator) doesnu0026#39;t seem to follow any clear stream of thought. And the conclusion at the end seems unrelated to the overall film. It kind of feels like a film directed at Christians to coax them into watching so it can try attempt to undermine their faith. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAs a Christian myself, I was a bit unsettled. Happy and hopeful but also sad and frustrated. There are some really dumb Christians in America but also some fantastic ones (*cough* Shane Claiborne). I disagree with the final conclusion of the film but am happy I watched it.”