Pacionsbo
Absolutely Fantastic
Curapedi
I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.
InformationRap
This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
Leslie Cole
I watched "Come Sunday" in an irreverent mood while downing vodka martinis and exchanging acerbic comments with my fellow cinema club friends about the hypocritical nature of religion. Chiwetel Ejiofor's courageous and contemplative portrayal of Pentecostal Bishop Carlton Pearson's revelation that hell does not exist is hopeful. What is lacking is the fervor and ecstasy of the Pentecostal church due to the film's mostly subdued congregation and restrained sequences of praise and worship. Compared to the Pentecostal church I grew up in, Pearson's Higher Dimensions church in "Come Sunday" felt lukewarm even after Ejiofor's fiery sermons and musical accompaniment by church organist Reggie (Lakeith Stanfield). After watching "Come Sunday" I walked into the kitchen of my friend who was hosting our cinema club. I noticed a card tucked neatly into a frame hanging on her wall with a quote from Chief Joseph on it: "We do not want churches because they will teach us to quarrel about God." That quote along with the message of "Come Sunday" was just as sobering as the cup of coffee that, by that time, I was holding in my hand.
rosiejackson-61661
Only a person that is born in a country (Italy) where, at the time, you had no choice or saying in what to believe, can fully understand this movie. Unfortunately the screenplay is a mess, and the director is not doing justice to an oscar worthy performance by Chiwetel Ejiofor, (this men is on another level), Lakeith Stanfield and Danny Glover. STILL, they are able to absorb you into the Via Crucix of not only pastor Pearson, but of those who clinged to his words in hope of salvation and are suddenly casted into chaos instead. This was a very courageous movie to produce BUT (like I did in Italy to break the chains by showing up to my confimation with short hair, bright green lima pants and matching pullover) sometimes you need to use firerworks to be seen. This movies FAILED to emphatized the magnitude and enormity of an African American pastor standing up against these "corporate", ANCIENT, religious organizations. Best part of the movie are the dialogue about being born gay and not going to hell, and the speech at the end in this new Hope church: because after all those years of Cathechism, the only thing I'm certain about the Bible is that Jesus is LOVE. He even wrote it in his scroll. It's just that fear it's a much easier feeling to handle.
joelbrandt2
The Christian jargon often comes off as a little wooden; maybe it's because a lot of it feels like it would've had to be indoctrinated (Carl's reasoning at the heresy trial spoke well to this), but the progressive theology is a bit ham-fisted too. Ejiofor is excellent though, as an imperfect man wrestling with tradition, conviction, and consequences, and along with beautiful cinematography and a solid score this makes for a number of powerful scenes that overshadow any kinks in the script.
Tony
Yes you've got it, I don't believe in any of it. But the film was a decent portrayal of someone who does, but then asks questions of their own belief, that's true enlightenment. As Voltaire very cleverly put it, " if God didn't exist, man would have to create him ". Make no mistake there has to be a creative power, I just happen to be one of those who thinks we don't and never have been able to comprehend it. All of human history has had a Heaven, be it Valhalla or Nirvana, basically a fear of mortality. Hell in the modern sense was a late arrival, if you crossed the river Styx, it was just the dead underworld. Hell and demons take centre stage with the advent of Christianity or specifically Catholicism. All pagan gods now become the hierarchy of demonology. All heretics are doomed to hell, salvation must be sought or bought. Christ threw out money lenders, so Christians could be millionaires. If I lie, strike me down now, Aaaaarrrrrgghh.
