THE X FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE
HEADLINE: ** Neither Here Nor There **
Title: THE X FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE
Quality: * * * Acceptability: -3
WARNING CODES:
Language: LL
Violence: VVV
Sex: S
Nudity: N
RATING: PG-13
RELEASE: July 25, 2008
TIME: 104 minutes
STARRING: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Billy Connolly, Amanda Peet, Alvin "Xzibit" Joiner, and Callum Keith Rennie
DIRECTOR: Chris Carter
PRODUCERS: Chris Carter and Frank Spotniz
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Brent O'Connor
WRITER: Chris Carter and Frank Spotniz
BASED ON THE TV SERIES CREATED BY: Chris Carter
DISTRIBUTOR: 20th Century Fox/News Corp.
CONTENT: (PaPa, CC, HH, AbAb, B, O, PC, LL, VVV, S, N, M) Strong, somewhat mixed pagan dealing with issues of faith and skepticism with some positive and negative Christian elements, including brief mention of hero's apparently Catholic faith and belief in the supernatural but heroine is a skeptic, a pedophile priest seeking forgiveness may or may not be getting visions from God about two apparent kidnappings, the heroine (a medical doctor) clashes with another priest who opposes her efforts to keep looking for a cure for a boy with an incurable brain ailment, and references to stem cell research but movie makes no distinction between embryonic stem cells versus adult stem cells, plus some moral elements about finding two missing kidnap victims, occult psychic visions from God seem to be validated in one scene at the end, and a politically correct joke is made about President George W. Bush and J. Edgar Hoover; seven obscenities, one or two strong profanities and two light profanities; scary violence about fighting a group of criminals that has kidnapped two women for nefarious Frankenstein experiments includes some very strong macabre content such as FBI finds severed arm in snow, a black market organ donor ring conducts Frankenstein experiments to save the life of a severely injured cohort, young woman kept in a box at a compound guarded by vicious dogs, man's head is kept alive for transplant to other bodies, incision started on victim's neck, vicious dogs attack hero, image of dead dog, plus chase, fighting and kidnapping scenes; implied fornication in one scene and unmarried couple goes off to live together (no wedding is shown or implied); upper male nudity; no alcohol; no smoking; and, kidnapping, stalking, black market organ donor victims, forced imprisonment by villains.
GENRE: Supernatural Horror
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Older teenagers and adults
Please address your comments to:
Rupert Murdoch, Chairman/CEO of News Corp.
Peter Chernin, President/COO of The Fox Group
Tom Rothman and Jim Gianopulos, Chairmen/CEO
Fox Filmed Entertainment
20th Century Fox Film Corp.
10201 West Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90035
Phone: (310) 369-1000
Website: www.fox.com
SUMMARY: THE X FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE follows Mulder and Scully, the two former FBI agents, as they unravel a case involving a kidnapped female agent, macabre experiments and a troubled Catholic priest who may be getting visions from God. Despite appealing performances by David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, this mixed, somewhat confused movie is like a standalone episode of the TV series, which may only appeal to the show's fans.
IN BRIEF:
THE X FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE opens six years after the ending of the TV series. The FBI offers amnesty to former agent Fox Mulder for his past insubordination, if he will help them deal with a priest, who claims visions from God about a kidnapped female agent. Mulder agrees but he wants Dana Scully, his former partner's, help. Scully, however, doesn't want to follow Mulder into the darkness again. She's also repulsed by the priest, who's also a pedophile trying to find absolution and redemption for his evil crimes. Something the priest says begins to haunt Scully. As Mulder stumbles on the macabre reasons for the kidnapping, it's up to Scully to save his life.
David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson continue to give appealing performances that make the viewer want to follow these characters. The movie, however, is like a standalone episode of the TV series. This gives it a B movie level quality that may only please fans of the TV show. Also, despite some positive nods to Christian faith, the movie's portrayal of the Catholic clergy is not entirely positive. The movie also displays some moral confusion. That said, the release of this movie does present an opportunity for believers to discuss the historical evidence on which their Christian faith is based. As Paul writes in Hebrew 11:1, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen [King James Version]."
NOTE from Dr. Ted Baehr, publisher of Movieguide Magazine. For more information from a Christian perspective, order the latest Movieguide Magazine by calling 1-800-899-6684(MOVI) or visit our website at www.movieguide.org. Movieguide is dedicated to redeeming the values of Hollywood by informing parents about today's movies and entertainment and by showing media executives and artists that family-friendly and even Christian-friendly movies do best at the box office year in and year out. Movieguide now offers an online subscription to its magazine version, atwww.movieguide.org. The magazine, which comes out 25 times a year, contains many informative articles and reviews that help parents train their children to be media-wise consumers.
