Movie review: ‘Salvation Boulevard’
“Salvation Boulevard,” starring Greg Kinnear and Pierce Brosnan, is a murder mystery farce set inside a megachurch that delivers a surprisingly spiritual message about sinners, saints, Satan and satire. Not soul-quenching comedy by any stretch, but a mildly uplifting diversion if you’re in a very silly mood.
The film opens with Kinnear’s Carl, a former Deadhead who ran out of gas and got religion, giving his testimony for a promotional push for Pastor Dan’s (Brosnan) church. But as we all know, into every life a little rain must fall, or in this case a little murder. And here’s where everyone’s faith in God, humanity and slapstick will be tested.
It made sense to put novelist Larry Beinhart’s reverent irreverent whodunit in director George Ratliff’s hands to adapt for the screen. The filmmaker has done thrillers (“Joshua”), which this sort of is. But most relevant is Ratliff’s 2001 documentary “Hell House,” which took a knowing and nonjudgmental spin through a Halloween haunted house conceived by a Texas evangelical congregation. For “Salvation,” Ratliff brought that same laugh-with-not-at sensibility, then teamed with co-writer Doug Max Stone to recast some of the book’s central players and add a few more trials and tribulations to beset the do-gooders and evildoers alike.
Where Carl is a character just made to be molded, Pastor Dan is a charismatic force who sees a sucker to be shaped. He’s the quintessential showman, whose stage just happens to be the church. As both begin to question their faith and the film takes its shots at notions of good and evil, somehow a basic respect for religion survives all the teasing and taunts. And that is a minor miracle.
Together, Brosnan and Kinnear are “Salvation Boulevard’s” saving grace. Something very interesting always seems to happen when the two of them are in a room and a camera’s running. There are definitely echoes of their far better collaboration in 2005’s delightful black comedy “The Matador,” with Brosnan’s hit man pulling all the strings on Kinnear’s ordinary Joe; that’s the charm of Kinnear, a quiet everyman who’ll generally do the right thing when he’s cornered, which he inevitably is.
Throughout the film, Carl is that man in the middle — of murder, mayhem, conspiracies and coverups, and of two women. On one side there’s Jennifer Connelly overreaching as Gwen, a fierce religious warrior of a wife. On the other is Marisa Tomei, winning as Honey, another former Deadhead, though instead of religion, she’s found her straight and narrow as a small town cop who still likes a toke on occasion.
Adding to the slapstick mix (or mess) is comic Jim Gaffigan as a Pastor Dan true believer/henchman and Yul Vazquez as a mystery man convinced his salvation can be found in a little piece of choice real estate. The line between satire with something to say and the simply ridiculous is a thin one, and though Ratliff struggles with his cheeky side, in “Salvation Boulevard” a little righteous indignation goes a long way.
‘Salvation Boulevard’
MPAA rating: Not rated
Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes
Playing: Laemmle’s Sunset 5, West Hollywood
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