Review: Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

Reviews

The Reaping

Over-serious eye candy

By CHRIS WANGLER | April 11, 2007

1.0 Stars

ON CLOSER LOOK: There is nothing truly frightening about this silly thriller.

This preposterous thriller from Stephen Hopkins stars Hilary Swank as a lapsed Christian missionary who specializes in scientific explanations for seemingly supernatural religious phenomena. When 10 Biblical plagues (CGI locusts, lice, etc.) descend on a small Louisiana town, she’s summoned to figure out how a barefoot pubescent girl (AnnaSophia Robb) might be connected. Mixing CSI talk with a lot of evangelical mumbo-jumbo, this over-serious eye candy keeps you on the edge of your seat but never freaks you out. Blame the lack of anything truly frightening — is anyone (other than the FDA) disturbed by dead cows, a lazy river of blood, and maggots on barbecued fish? Swank, clad in a rainbow of flattering tanktops, passes as a wounded workaholic grappling with her own demons, but her crisis of belief never materializes.

Related: Freedom Writers, Spring loaded, Apocalypse now and then, More

Topics: Reviews , Food and Drug Administration, AnnaSophia Robb, Hilary Swank, More

| More

ARTICLES BY CHRIS WANGLER

REVIEW: CRANK: HIGH VOLTAGE | April 21, 2009
Chinese triads. Corey Haim. Porn actors on strike. REO Speedwagon. Yes, the creators of this nearly unwatchable sequel will use anything to achieve their twisted goal: to shock ADHD teenagers.

REVIEW: SUNSHINE CLEANING | March 18, 2009
What lifts this tasty little dramedy above Sundance mediocrity is a pathos that overcomes all the "quirky" dysfunctional contrivance.

REVIEW: PUSH | February 11, 2009
Teens with special powers? A government conspiracy?

REVIEW: CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA | January 13, 2009
Director Nikhil Advani's quirky Chinese-Indian collaboration is the widest release ever of a Bollywood film, and the first ever kung fu Bollywood comedy.