The Book of Eli:
A Man With a Mission

In the not-too-distant future, some 30 years after the final war, a solitary man walks across the wasteland that was once America. Empty cities, broken highways, seared earth; all around him are the marks of catastrophic destruction. There is no civilization here, no law. The roads belong to gangs that would murder a man for his shoes, an ounce of water, or for nothing at all.

A warrior not by choice but necessity, Eli (Denzel Washington) seeks only peace but, if challenged, will cut his attackers down before they realize their fatal mistake. It's not his life he guards so fiercely but his hope for the future; a hope he has carried and protected for 30 years and is determined to realize. Driven by this commitment and guided by his belief in something greater than himself, Eli does what he must to survive and continue.

Only one other man in this ruined world understands the power Eli holds, and is determined to make it his own: Carnegie (Gary Oldman), the self-appointed despot of a makeshift town of thieves and gunmen. Meanwhile, Carnegie's adopted daughter Solara (Mila Kunis) is fascinated by Eli for another reason: the glimpse he offers of what may exist beyond her stepfather's domain.

Buckle Up, It's a Wild Ride

The Book of Eli is many things, but boring is not one of them. From the opening scene set in a mysterious deforested wasteland to the closing scene that offers hope for a better future, it's a wild, and often violent, ride. And therein lies one of the first and most hotly debated questions about this film: is it necessary for it to be so violent?

In the context of a future where every drop of water is precious, there is no centralized civilization, and every survivor must fend for themselves, the niceties of society no longer provide a moral rein. Instead, basic instincts rule the day, and any thought promptly becomes an action, usually a violent one. What I appreciate about the violence is that it goes by quickly (for the most part), and more like stylized video game fighting than, say, the fighting of Gladiator or The 300, and one scene resembles something pulled from an urban version of Band of Brothers, but mercifully it doesn't last long.

Man Without God

The more elemental reason for the extreme violence is that man has no knowledge of God. Eli carries the only remaining copy of the Bible, and presumably only one other person even knows of its existence. History has shown us that man naturally has a terrible bent to sin and degradation, even when he knows of God. Imagine what he would be like without anything to act as a moral compass. That's what you see on the screen during The Book of Eli.

If man acts violently, his language also will not be restrained. It too will reflect his most base nature, so if you go, be prepared for language that you probably don't hear inside your home or church. And because this is a Hollywood film, no attempt was made to sanitize the language.

A Complex Hero

In keeping with Eli's role as the protector of the only copy of God's Word, he does not take the Lord's name in vain, and I have to appreciate the sensibilities the writer and directors used in developing his character. Eli is not a simple man, but his mission is simple: protect the Word. When tempted to stray from his mission to perform heroic deeds, he must weigh whether it fits with his calling or not.

And there's the complexity of this hero: he's an ordinary man with an extraordinary calling who doesn't always do what we'd consider the heroic thing. Does that make him any less a hero? In that regard, The Book of Eli challenges our thinking on many levels. While it's a story of good vs. evil, the good isn't always good and the evil isn't always evil.

For all that we might not agree with them, the filmmakers got that right. While we'd like our world to be black and white, dealing with simple questions of right and wrong, it's not usually that simple. There is more gray (appropriately reflected in the color palette of the film) than we're comfortable with, and while there is no question that Eli is the hero, there are some villains we might find ourselves sympathetic toward.

A Delicate Balancing Act

The greatest challenge of this film is that it's an apocalyptic sci-fi thriller with overt spiritual themes. Some reviewers have charged that it's nothing more than Christian propaganda, but considering the filmmakers themselves, I have to disagree. Rather, they built a futuristic story around the book that has influenced mankind for thousands of years, and will continue to do so as long as the world exists.

It's the kind of film Hollywood probably won't like because of the spiritual themes, and Christians probably won't like because of the violence and language. Jesus said that He came to bring division, and even thousands of years later, His Word still sharply divides us.

Rating

The Book of Eli is definitely not for children and deserves its R rating for some brutal violence (including implied cannibalism) and language.

Courtesy of a national publicist and Warner Brothers Pictures, Angela attended a preview screening of The Book of Eli.

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