God? The Almighty Question

Technically, Peter Rodger's documentary is a tour de force, combining colorful, exquisitely composed footage shot in 23 countries with extraordinarily fluid editing. Unfortunately, the vibrant visuals serve a premise that proves to be remarkably unenlightening. Rodger simply travels the globe asking people a single question: “What is God?” Rodger interviews some celebrities, from Hugh Jackman and Baz Luhrmann, to Ringo Starr, Bob Geldof, and David Copperfield. He also queries individuals on the street, schoolchildren, worshippers in shrines and cathedrals, scholars, and tourists, who likewise share their ideas of what God means to them. Religious figures offer their opinions—Jewish rabbis, Buddhist monks, Muslim imams, Hindu teachers, even Druidic leaders—and so do atheists. But anyone who expects this gaggle of voices to yield anything beyond confusion will be sorely disappointed. One sequence in which leaders of different faiths join together in mutual respect is juxtaposed with others in which a Christian preacher condemns Muslims as dangerous terrorists, or a jihadist declares that Jews and Christians are all damned to hell (which is immediately followed by a scholar protesting that the man's interpretation of the Koran is wrong). Rodger's globetrotting ultimately only proves what everyone already knows: opinions about whether God exists, or what divinity means, are endlessly varied and often contradictory. Not a necessary purchase. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)