Too many films with a faith-based lesson approach their themes with such heavy-handed force that anyone outside of its niche audience can feel attacked or simply alienated. It’s not impossible to work Christian themes into a story or to present a story that is overtly about faith. Though, you’d never know that judging from films like Soul Surfer and the slew of others that are made specifically to entertain that narrow demographic. With that sampling, you’d swear there was no middle ground. Mark Ruffalo found it though with Sympathy for Delicious, about a faith-healer that never demands you accept the religious practice as a reality, but merely puts it at the heart of the story and then examines how it would realistically play out in today’s modern world obsessed with money and fame. It’s not perfect, as it relies on a few cheap caricatures to make its allegory clear, but it’s engaging and never presents its viewpoint as the end-all be-all on the subject.
Dean (Christopher Thornton) had gained quite a following as an award-winning spinner named DJ Delicious, but it came to an end when an accident left him a paraplegic and unable to pursue his craft for reasons as simple as clubs refusing to lower their DJ stations to his wheelchair-bound height. Poor and living out of a car in “skid row” where the homeless congregate, his life takes an unexpected twist when he unknowingly heals a man with gout by the mere touch of his hands. The miraculous incident attracts the attention of a Catholic priest, Joe (Ruffalo) who quickly realizes what Dean is doing. As Joe begins to bring Dean’s ability to the attention of others, Dean becomes resentful of using his gift with little gain for himself and joins a band (Orlando Bloom, Juliette Lewis, Dov Tiefenbach) where he practices his healing onstage amidst the ineptly played instrumentation and singing. Their agent (Laura Linney) sees the incredible money-making potential that Dean’s ability has and soon they’ve become superstars – only to have Dean become the healing sideshow he feared he’d be and at the cost of a friend.
Sympathy for Delicious never gets too preachy, but it does lose a lot of its credibility by going too far in the direction of the cautionary tale as Laura Linney’s agent becomes the embodiment of idolatry and pride. It’s she who pushes Dean to take the showmanship further and who ultimately steers the performance into a farce, just in time for a second tragedy to come along so the film can wag its finger and warn us about what happens when we care more about fame than helping others. Similarly, Bloom’s rockstar persona, “The Stain” is never anything more than a two-dimensional stereotype and he plays it off as a loudmouthed ass, and it becomes rather difficult to understand why Delicious would hitch himself to that wagon. Even if they’re the only band that openly invited him to play with them, the only reason they accepted him is after showing them his gift – which begs the question of why he didn’t just form his own band and go from there, thus avoiding the obnoxious character Bloom plays. If the people that drew Dean into the world of fame and pride had been more fleshed out and likeable it would have made a lot more sense and not felt nearly as shallow.
The final issue of the film stems from Thornton, who played Dean and also wrote the film, and his less than subtle resemblance to the commonly used portraiture of Jesus. The ragged hair, the thin face, the stubble, and the ability to heal by touch anyone who truly believes he can, are a bit too blatant. He acts well enough that the exploration of how contemporary society would react to a man who can heal by touch never feels too ‘out there’, but the comparisons between himself and Jesus should never have been shouted so loudly. The actions were enough for audiences to draw similarities, it doesn’t necessitate a Jesus-like visage to drive the point home.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
A featurette explaining the story’s origin proves the most interesting of the extras, and an audio commentary featuring Thornton, Ruffalo, and Bloom comes in at a close second. A trailer for the film rounds out the set.
"Sympathy for Delicious" is on sale August 23, 2011 and is rated R. Drama. Directed by Mark Ruffalo. Written by Christopher Thornton. Starring Juliette Lewis, Laura Linney, Mark Ruffalo, Noah Emmerich, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Thornton.
