Ray Comfort's AUDACITY: Can fundamentalist Christians handle homosexuality? Guess not.

AUDACITY is audacious, all right. But not, I'm afraid, in any smart way. TrustMovies was contacted by the PR arm of the film's distributor, explaining that the GLBT community was rising up against this new movie without even having seen it (they seem to be doing the same thing regarding the new GLBT-themed Stonewall, too). "It's not anti-gay at all," I was assured by the film's spokesperson. Unfair! thought I, and immediately resolved to view the movie and decide for myself. Having now done so, I'm not at all sure I would recommend this same course of action to my readers because, sure enough, Audacity is yet another ridiculous Fundamentalist Christian broadside against homosexuality in both its gay and lesbian incarnations.

And simply because the film appears to be "being nice" to the LGBT community via a lamebrained interviewer who keeps noting how he does not want to offend anyone -- while offending the audience something fierce by doing little more than quoting scripture that damns homos to hell. (Yep, The Bible is the only thing that counts in this movie's universe.) Worse, almost all of the people this guy interviews sit there like bumps on a log, simply agreeing with him and politely waiting for the next insult to smack them in the kisser. Gays and lesbians this passive and sweet must have been lobotomized some time back. Bullshit, say I, while advising the filmmaker to grow up, try thinking for himself for once, and opening up his mind to science or something, anything, other than blind faith.

That filmmaker would be one, Ray Comfort, shown two photos above, who seems perhaps a better preacher than filmmaker. What he has produced here, in any case, is more sermon than movie. It is not even full-length or very professional, running under an hour (including a section at the finale during which we viewers are urged to get out there and proselytize for Jesus). What story there is includes a cobbled-together hash of so-so stand-up comedy (consisting of mostly impersonations), highly coincidental plotting, and seemingly endless proselytizing -- for Christianity and against gays. The plot doesn't even appear to coincide with what the press information says about the film -- to the point that I began to wonder if I had been sent some kind of alternate or shortened version.

On the plus side, the acting is at least competent, and some of the dialog is believable, even if the plot's several incidents provide enough overwrought melodrama to choke the proverbial horse.  But the film's insistence on comparing homosexuals to adulterers, blasphemers, thieves, and other wrong-doers (at least they leave out bestiality!) is as good an indication as any that all these poor dumb folk can manage is to cherry-pick the scriptures so that they're able to finger-point once again.

Audacity is yet another commercial for Christianity foisted upon the public as a legitimate motion picture. Enough already. From Living Waters and running 55 minutes, the film is available now on DVD. 
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