Leap of Faith (1992) Paramount/Comedy-Drama RT: 108 minutes Rated PG-13 (some language) Director: Richard Pearce Screenplay: Janus Cercone Music: Cliff Eidelman Cinematography: Matthew F. Leonetti Release date: December 18, 1992 (US) Cast: Steve Martin, Debra Winger, Lolita Davidovich, Liam Neeson, Lukas Haas, Meat Loaf, Philip Seymour Hoffman, M.C. Gainey, LaChanze, Delores Hall, John Toles-Bey, Albertina Walker, Ricky Dillard, Vince Davis, Troy Evans. Box Office: $23.4M (US)
Rating: ** ½
Let’s talk semantics. There is a big difference between “a Steve Martin movie” and “a movie starring Steve Martin”. The former term refers to silly comedies like The Jerk, The Man with Two Brains, All of Me, L.A. Story and Bringing Down the House. The latter applies to more serious-minded titles like Pennies from Heaven, Grand Canyon, A Simple Twist of Fate, The Spanish Prisoner and Shopgirl. I would also put Leap of Faith in the second category even though it is, in part, a satire.
Martin plays it straight as Jonas Nightengale, a bogus faith healer who travels the country holding tent revival meetings at which he cons believers out of their money by performing so-called miracles. It’s quite a racket he has going on. At gigs, spotters blend in with the crowd listening for crucial bits of personal information- e.g. health issues, lost job, etc.- they tell to his backstage assistant Jane (Winger, An Officer and a Gentleman) who relays it to Jonas through an earpiece. On stage with his back-up choir, he picks out people “at random” and speaks of their problems. He does a bit of the “laying on of hands” thing. Then he sends his guys into the audience to take up a collection.
Mechanical problems with one of their trucks force Jonas and his team of con artists to make an unscheduled stopover in a small Kansas town, one that’s fallen on hard times due to unemployment and drought. Since they’re stuck there for a few days, Jonas figures he may as well make some money off the situation. The local sheriff, Will Braverman (Neeson, Darkman), sees right through him when he goes to apply for the necessary permits. He tells Jonas he won’t allow him to con the townspeople, most of who are down on their luck, out of their money. Jane uses her charms to distract Will from his efforts to shut down the show, but ends up falling for him in the process.
What Jonas doesn’t realize is that he’s reached a personal crossroads in his life. He’s about to have an epiphany of sorts in meeting Boyd (Haas, Witness), a local teen who can’t walk due to a car accident that also claimed his parents’ lives. He’s the younger brother of local diner waitress Marva (Davidovich, Raising Cain), a no-nonsense sort with no love for faith healers and their empty promises of a cure through salvation. Boyd comes to believe in Jonas’ powers and asks him to heal him.
It’s been at least 20-25 years since I last saw Leap of Faith. I decided to give it a rewatch after coming across it while surfing Netflix. Overall, it’s a decent movie, but its parts don’t gel as well as they should. It’s at its best when it goes behind the scenes and shows us how Jonas operates. It’s a pretty sophisticated one with the computers and electronics; it’s an effective combination of smoke-and-mirrors and skilled flim-flam artists. Magician Ricky Jay acted as a consultant on Leap of Faith which should you a little something about its accuracy.
One problem with Leap of Faith is that it never really settles on a tone. Like I said, it’s partly satirical. However, it leans more towards drama than comedy. Martin doesn’t do any of his usual schtick although when he’s playing it to the hilt on stage in his glittery jackets, you can kind of see the Steve Martin we all know and love struggling to break free. Aside from that, there’s none of the ha-ha funny stuff we’ve come to expect from Martin. The drama, on the other hand, isn’t especially thick or syrupy. The stuff about Boyd never becomes maudlin. The blooming romance between Jane and Will is sort of sweet albeit somewhat superfluous.
I kept thinking, during this viewing, what Leap of Faith would have been like if somebody like Robert Altman (MASH, Nashville) directed it. That’s a filmmaker who knew satire and how to intertwine storylines. It’s fine in the hands of Richard Pearce (Heartland, Country) who imbues the film with a comfortable, down-home feeling, but I can’t help but consider the great film it could have been.
The other problem with Leap of Faith is that I didn’t buy the ending. Now I’m not talking about the “miracle” that occurs right before it. I’m talking about Martin’s character’s reaction to it and what follows. Nothing is really resolved. It’s something of a cop-out actually. The movie starts as an expose, develops into social commentary and then just ends without really ending. The screenplay never fully develops the “miracle” and what it means to Jonas and everybody else. It also doesn’t complete Jonas’ character arc. At best, it’s vague.
The lead actors all do fine work. Martin is good as a man experiencing crises of conscience and faith. When he takes the time to get to know a couple of the people he’s been conning, he starts to look differently at his life and the path he’s chosen. He also rethinks the higher power he’s been exploiting for profit. Winger delivers her usual solid performance as a woman who’s made a lot of dubious moral compromises in her life and wonders if it’s all been worth it. Now that she’s found a man she loves, she questions if she’s worth loving.
Neeson’s character is a decent, morally upright type who can’t just stand by and let this snake oil salesman bilk his people out of money they can’t afford to give away. At his center, he’s a sweet guy who loves the simple life and butterflies. The leads are aided by a colorful supporting cast that includes rock star Meat Loaf (who isn’t in it nearly enough), M.C. Gainey (Con Air) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (Scent of a Woman).
For all its flaws, I do like Leap of Faith. It’s an interesting look at a lifestyle most of us only read about in tabloids or see in movies or on TV. I’ve never been to a tent revival service or met a faith healer. I must admit they put on quite a show. It’s like a travelling carnival in that it’s a means to the same end, parting fools and rubes from their money. If only the movie had the courage to really tear into this subject, give it some bite. That would be a hell of a movie.
