Ok…so…I saw the film Noah last night.

First…let’s list the things it had in common with the account found in the Bible. There was a Noah character. There was his wife and kids. There was an ark. There was a flood. That about covers it.

Let me be clear…I don’t get my Biblical truth from Hollywood. And I don’t look to the Bible for entertainment. But wow…you’d think they’d have gotten it close! After all, its not THAT hard.

Russell Crowe was at the top of his game. Jennifer Oneal was also quite good. As for art, it was artful. The cinematography was excellent.

Now for the fun parts…fallen angels called the Watchers help Noah build the ark. A magic seed from Methuselah grew the forest where the wood came from for the ark. The sin of man was environmental (the fallen angels had helped man to build industrial cities that destroyed the earth). Noah went through most of the movie convinced that God had him build the ark to save the ‘innocent ones’…the animals. After all, ‘they are the only ones who still live as they did in the garden’. He was seemingly convinced that mankind had to die…that we weren’t as important to God as the animals.  And for good measure…Tubal Cain hitched a ride on the ark.

After a while I felt a bit sorry for Russell Crowe. I thought about leaving once or twice, but you know…it’s kinda the accident scenario…you just can’t help watching. It was two hours and nineteen minutes of ‘you’re kidding…right?’

The good news about the movie is that there is a lot about unstoppable faith in the movie. They refer to God as the Creator. And the whole idea of receiving direction from God gets plenty of attention.

I THINK I appreciate Hollywood giving it a shot. After all, it brings a story from scripture into public conversation. And as long as we understand that the director is simply creating a story not unlike The Lord of the Rings, then a good time can be had by all…well most people anyway.