RAPTURE-PALOOZA

US, 2013, 85 minutes, Colour.
Craig Robinson, Anna Kendrick, John Francis Daley, Rob Corrdrey, Ana Gasteyer, John Michael Higgins, Thomas Lennon, Ken Jeong.
Directed by Paul Middleditch.

The challenge of this film – and its title - is whether audiences would go to see a movie with this title. While many, especially fundamentalist Christians, would be interested in the Rapture, with the Palooza added to it, it seems a less likely proposition. And those who would be interested in the Palooza might wonder going to something about the rapture!

The film is always tongue in cheek. It shows people being taken by the rapture in very comic situations – for those who would like the real thing, so to speak, there is always the Left Behind series. For those who are interested in the Rapture, there is Michael Tolkin’s 1991 film of the same name.

It is surprising to see Anna Kendrick in the central role of Lindsey. She had been building a strong career with such films as Up in the Area, Pitch Perfect and such small-budget films as Drinking Buddies. In this film, she has to play it straight, bewildered by the rapture, facing it with her boyfriend, Ben (John Francis Daley), and coming face to face with the Antichrist.

The film has fun with the Antichrist. He is played by Craig Robinson, a foul-mouthed predator-type former politician called Earl who finds that he is the Antichrist, known as The Beast, who cannot be destroyed, and can come back as Satan. He lives in a mansion, has a range of servants whom he controls (some of whom are ready to rebel against him when the opportunity comes), discards his wife but is devoted to his little son and heir.

Lindsay’s parents are very concerned, especially her mother, who has been rejected for the Rapture, and Ben’s father get into the act because he is on the staff at The Beast’s mansion. The young couple make plans of how to capture and control The Beast, reading the Book of Revelation, discovering that The Beast can be confined for 1000 years. They concoct an elaborate plan whereby Lindsay will respond to The Beast’s seductive propositions, poison him and then cart him to a cage where he will be confined. To this purpose, they borrow their walking dead neighbour, Mr Murphy, sent back from the afterlife, who spends his time trying to mow his lawn. He is played by the comedian, Thomas Lennon.

Needless to say, many things go wrong, and the plan is played for slapstick laughs.

For religious people, the ending maybe a bit too much. God comes down to earth to confront the beast, the eternal battle between Satan in God. But he comes in the form of actor Ken Jeong, best known for a number of raucous comedies, including the Hangover series. This is certainly nobody’s idea of God – except for the screenwriters. He is more than a bit limited, has a vocabulary which is in no sense holy, confronts The Beast – and both of them finish up face down in a swimming pool, dead. God is dead. Satan is dead. The Rapture is over and everybody can get on with living.

While the idea has funny elements, some of the execution may leave a lot to be desired, a mixture of real humour as well as some very corny humour.