71 - Leap of Faith

    A faith healer and his road show are stranded in a small rural town, along with a sheriff that doesn’t appreciate their efforts to fundraise off the community.
    I’ve seen this a few times, and I’ve always enjoyed it.  But there’s something missing.  I forget about the movie pretty quickly, and I have a hard time remembering many of the plot points.  I enjoy Steve Martin’s performance.  I noticed a number of notable people in the cast.  Everyone does a good job, and the structure is actually pretty good.
    I think where the movie fails is that the message seems a little unclear.  Martin doesn’t have a strong arc, and it’s hard to feel like learns anything.  The event that really twists things around is when a miracle occurs that Martin knows he didn’t perform.  This is the catalyst that would have made for a much more effective story.  Instead, it’s the event that ends things.
    Another problem is that Martin isn’t exactly villainous enough.  He’s a sleazy guy, but he makes a reasonable justification for his actions.  He’s an entertainer.  The fact that people seem to regard “faith healers” as something other than entertainment is a problem, but I wouldn’t expect the argument for restriction of religious freedom to have much weight.
    As it is, the movie seems more like a backstory to a more interesting story that takes place afterward.