The Visitation (2006)

After The Passion of the Christ was released, Hollywood was left with a big problem. They realized, probably for the first time, that there was a tangible niche audience out there starving for entertainment that matched their sensibilities... Christians. Hollywood, which has streamlined the process of jumping on the next big thing was left unable to fill this Christian void. They didn't have any scripts. They didn't have any Christian films in development. They were caught with their moral pants down.

Sony Entertainment seems to be approaching the process of filling this void with a solid angle. First, they searched for a successful Christian author that writes about people in the primary demographic (18-34 years old). That author was Frank Peretti. They then limited the budget to between $1 - $3 million dollars, filled the cast with C level actors that were respectable, but less expensive and are releasing the film primarily on DVD in the U.S. through Christian bookstores.

It's the most practical model... it is exactly what I would have done... so I am interested to see if they succeed.

Of course, any film business plan will live or die by the quality of their films. The Visitation, starring Martin Donovan, Kelly Lynch, Randy Travis and Edward Furlong, is the story of a healer (Furlong) who begins healing people in the small town of Antioch and a fallen preacher (Donovan) who must address his faith and his personal loss to determine if this healer is the work of God or the work of the Devil.

The Visitation starts out very effectively, but it eventually loses steam as the audience understands what's really going on far before the main characters. The performances are all strong, especially Furlong who is both charismatic and exceedingly creepy at the same time. Donovan and Lynch have nice chemistry and Randy Travis is solid as a local preacher. The major failing of the film is the pacing of the script itself. I have not personally read Peretti's books, but I am familiar with the task of converting a book into a screenplay. It is no easy task.

In the end, The Visitation is a good attempt at reaching the niche Christian market. It has good acting and an intriguing plot, but suffers from slow pacing. Sony also released another of Peretti's work called The Hangman's Curse, which I'll be watching soon as well.

I'm also interested to see if Sony is successful in their approach of filling the Christian cinema void. It appears to be the right approach. We'll see if their films catch the eyes and wallets of their target audience.