An Unpretentious ‘Jesus’ Even Skeptics Can Love

Let the miracles begin.

The story of Jesus Christ is, of course, Christendom’s holiest, hottest classic. If Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” can be remade so many times from so many angles, however, why not the Gospels’ JC, too? Not that the two are equal in stature. But in this case, what’s good for the Prince of Denmark and other oft-translated classics is good for the Prince of Peace, whose biographers on film range from Cecil B. DeMille to Martin Scorsese.

TV has delivered its share of Christs, too, most recently in last November’s “Mary, Mother of Jesus” on NBC and in ABC’s clay-animated film “The Miracle Maker” on Easter Sunday.

So enough already? No.

The latest go at him is “Jesus,” a ratings sweeps-tailored CBS two-parter that, to the surprise of at least one advance skeptic (blush), turns out to be the best network miniseries in years. The direction by Roger Young, teleplay by Suzette Couture and performances by a strong cast create an entertaining feast that you needn’t be Christian to savor.

Keep some pebbles handy, but cast no stones at “Jesus,” whose fascinating savior of humankind emerges impressively in the person of handsome young Jeremy Sisto. This Jesus really cooks.

As does his potential nemesis here, Jeroen Krabbe’s inspired smoothie of a Satan, who first surfaces beside a weakened Jesus in the desert as an Armani-wrapped lounge lizard with a seductive line of bull designed to test JC’s will to fast for 40 days and nights. “You don’t look so good, Jesus,” the black-suited Satan remarks with mock concern. “Are you hungry?”

Sweeps, shmeeps. Let’s hear an amen.

As theater, Jesus has become an icon for eclectic tastes. Some like their Jesuses glowing, flowing and almost girlish, others want throaty rock superstars who can belt out songs with electric guitars and give Judas Iscariot, Herod Antipas and Pontius Pilate what for. Disciples of devoutly mocking “South Park” relish its mellow, but inept cartoon Jesus. Still others swoon over the velvety tubes and piercing eyes of tormented Christs cut from the 1977 cloth of Robert Powell’s hypnotic figure in Franco Zeffirelli’s six-hour “Jesus of Nazareth” on NBC.

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Yet Sisto’s earthily unpretentious Jesus seems about right in this dusty, sunbaked, golden-hued Holy Land grandly mounted in Morocco by executive producer Lorenzo Minoli, whose previous biblical epics aired on TNT.

The hero of “Jesus”--not that distant from the self-doubting, life-sized savior played by Willem Dafoe in Scorsese’s controversial “Last Temptation of Christ”--is capable of fully human emotions. As when going after merchants with a whip, overturning their wares and raging at them for engaging in trade that defiles the great Jerusalem temple that he calls his “father’s house.”

On display, too, is not only his short fuse on behalf of the Almighty, but his capacity for personal anguish when the Jewish zealot, Barabbas, ignores his pleas against bloodshed and slits the throat of a Roman soldier. And later, when Romans nail Jesus to a cross, his screams inform his followers of the excruciating pain he is suffering.

Jesus stories fit nicely into a small screen because they’re fundamentally about a concept or system rather than an action, even though the soul of the Christianizing becomes the crucifixion and subsequent resurrection.

Before reaching that emotional apex, though, this is a smiling, genial, free-spirited, fun-loving Jesus who dances joyously, has a playful water-splashing fight with his followers and is so accessible that Peter can tell him: “I’m not saying you’re not the Messiah, but that doesn’t mean you don’t get it wrong sometimes.” Does Jesus respond to this critique from his apostle with a snit of biblical grandiosity? No, he listens intently, then issues a reasoned rebuttal that changes Peter’s mind.

Kids love Jesus, the babes dig him, too, and at times his personal charisma is as much human as spiritual. It’s that brand of intimate magnetism that his closest followers appear to be heeding after initially questioning his credibility, as one by one they fall into line, fully persuaded at last that he is the son of God and not just a delusionary carpenter.

It helps that he makes wine from water, heals the afflicted and walks on water. This guy is good.

Along with Jesus, of course, you get Mary (Jacqueline Bisset) and Joseph (Armin Mueller-Stahl). You get hooker-turned-heroine Mary Magdalene (Debra Messing of NBC’s “Will & Grace”) and John the Baptist (David O’Hara), crying out in the wilderness en route to losing his head.

Here, also, are the usual A-list heavies topped by Pilate (Gary Oldman), Herod (Luca Barbareschi), the Jewish high priest Caiaphas (Christian Kohlund) and, above all, Judas (Thomas Lockyer). His treachery in betraying Jesus for 30 pieces of silver follows convention, although he is also disillusioned by his leader’s refusal to join the Jewish zealots in their plan to clobber the local Romans.

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Although producer Minoli has been widely quoted as claiming that his CBS miniseries attributes Jesus’ death solely to the murderous Pilate and absolves Jews of responsibility, that doesn’t square with what’s on the screen. At the very least, here, Caiaphas and his boys are a catalyst leading to the crucifixion.

Not squaring with good drama, moreover, are silly scenes showing Jesus publicly calling out his chosen disciples from a throng of supporters as if they were beauty pageant finalists. And the story’s lengthy and disjointed post-crucifixion sequences are one or two miracles too many.

Especially well-rendered, though, is the Satanism that torments Jesus on the eve of his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, as the slick-talking dark villain lobbies him to give up this martyr business.

“You never felt the pain of nails through your hands, of nails through your feet,” Satan says. “The weight of your own body crushes your lungs. You’ll suffocate . . . slowly, and you’ll endure this alone. And it’s all in vain, Jesus.”

Would you buy a used car from this man? The answer is yes.

Satan goes on to conjure up for Jesus the future of violence that will be committed in his name, from the Crusades to the nightmare of modern combat. “The world at war, what a concept,” Satan declares as they move through a battlefield where bodies are strewn and dying men scream in agony.

Although the savior is visibly affected and buckles a bit, folding is not an option. This is Jesus, after all.

Shorter pedestal, but still the man.

* “Jesus” airs Sunday and Wednesday at 9 p.m. on CBS. The network has rated it TV-PG-V (may be unsuitable for young children with special advisories for violence).

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Howard Rosenberg’s column appears Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. He can be contacted via e-mail at calendar.letters@latimes.com.