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★★½☆☆
10 January 2018
A movie review of THREE CHRISTS. |
“Will you ever get over that I am smarter than you?” Ruth (Julianna Margulies)
Looking at this cast, one guesses this was meant to be a prestige pic. Oscar bait. But this is from Jon Avnet, who directed terrible movies such as RIGHTEOUS KILL and 88 MINUTES. It’s a pity, as Richard Gere has been on real form lately (NORMAN, THE DINNER, TIME OUT OF MIND). The message of THREE CHRISTS is worthy, and applicable beyond psychology, but the film is overlong and overwrought. It is not in the same league as say EXPERIMENTER (2015).
The 1950s treatment of mental health was barbaric, including: Lobotomy, coma, electric shock and drugs. Based on actual events, THREE CHRISTS is about pioneering minimal psychotherapy by Dr Alan Stone (Richard Gere). Three patients at the Ypsilanti State Hospital, in Michigan, all believe they are Jesus Christ. Dr Stone thinks he can treat their delusions by having them engage with each other. The three are television show thespians: Joseph (Peter Dinklage – GAME OF THRONES), Leon (Walton Goggins- THE SHIELD) and Clyde (Bradley Whitford – THE WEST WING).
Looking at this cast, one guesses this was meant to be a prestige pic. Oscar bait. But this is from Jon Avnet, who directed terrible movies such as RIGHTEOUS KILL and 88 MINUTES. It’s a pity, as Richard Gere has been on real form lately (NORMAN, THE DINNER, TIME OUT OF MIND). The message of THREE CHRISTS is worthy, and applicable beyond psychology, but the film is overlong and overwrought. It is not in the same league as say EXPERIMENTER (2015).
The 1950s treatment of mental health was barbaric, including: Lobotomy, coma, electric shock and drugs. Based on actual events, THREE CHRISTS is about pioneering minimal psychotherapy by Dr Alan Stone (Richard Gere). Three patients at the Ypsilanti State Hospital, in Michigan, all believe they are Jesus Christ. Dr Stone thinks he can treat their delusions by having them engage with each other. The three are television show thespians: Joseph (Peter Dinklage – GAME OF THRONES), Leon (Walton Goggins- THE SHIELD) and Clyde (Bradley Whitford – THE WEST WING).
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The villain of the piece is Dr Orbus (Kevin Pollak), head of Ypsilanti. He represents the old guard, across any sector, who are reluctant to evolve with the state of the art. Surely the audience can all think of dinosaurs they have worked with clogging up their industries? Orbus is also cypher for management incompetence and jealousy. As Dr Stone’s techniques begin to bring him professional recognition, Orbus attempts to muscle in on the credit. Tension comes from how far he will ruin the experiment, and whether Dr Stone will be able to see through his hypotheses.
Dr Stone is full of good intentions. He and his assistant Becky (Charlotte Hope) moderate the patients’ interactions. Though, one of the bum notes of THREE CHRISTS is Becky speaking of being a victim of sexual assault; yet earlier in the film she is objectified, by being naked in a dream. Exploitative nudity and sexual violence, even in different scenes, do not sit comfortably. It derails the noble ambitions of the story.
Stone attempts to get to the bottom of the three paranoid schizophrenics self-deception. Each protagonist has a sad backstory. THREE CHRISTS demonstrates what may be achieved when you have focused care. That Ypsilanti has five psychologists, for 4100 patients, demonstrates how little resources are afforded such sufferers. They are treated as society’s detritus, to be hidden away and managed, rather than human beings to be healed. The commentary is shown to be as relevant today as it was then.
