source: According to Ben Adams

Moviecut—According to Ben Adams

Just a word for the director or whoever listed this movie here Kindly add the word school project next time you make such an abomination so it dont end to the wrong audience. ... and for the people rated that as 8.1 ... shame on you.

I wanted to like this movie because I found the premise unique & interesting. But whatever promise it held was wasted through poor acting and a rambling script. I don't recall seeing such bad acting in a film ever before-- it's truly on the par of a small town community theatre, and often sinks below that meager bar. Some movies shouldn't have been made. This is one of them. Hopefully someone with more experience will pick up the concept & run with it.

This is one intense film! It got my attention because it sounded different but I'm not sure what l just watched. It's about the devil (for real) in a battle of wits with a guy called Jesus (think he's Jesus?) in a mental hospital. That's always an interesting setting for a good enough story when it doesn't get too medical, and in According To Ben Adams you get a good enough story and then some. This film is from Australia where they make some pretty funny comedies and it has some wicked humour here too. A character called Robby played by Alan Watts is on the receiving end of a brilliant chemistry with the devil character (Bramwell Noah). I couldn't take my eyes off these two even when the story stopped being funny and started to go to some pretty dark places. That part wasn't a surprise when the devil is in the driver's seat. Bramwell Noah is one those extraordinary actors who can make ordering a pizza sound like a Bond villain. He was a knockout and the other standout was Daniel Schepisi who played the guy who thinks he's Jesus. He's cast as a guy who might be nuts or might be Jesus. He holds to his own and starts out soft but also builds with the story. I already mentioned the Robby character, the one other star performer is turned in by Chloe Ng who is in the hospital because of her rock and roll lifestyle or something. She's explosive, fun and funny and steals every scene. But the fun is like everything else in this film, which means it comes with an intense edge. It's got lots more neat little stylistic turns that kept me watching. I don't want to have spoilers but the way they use animation when Jesus tells stories caught this viewer off guard. The soundtrack did the same kind of thing because it's on the big side. The story is pretty big too and does get ahead of itself sometimes with maybe too much going on, but l stuck it out for the best reason all - I couldn't look away.

I kept getting the feeling while I was watching According To Ben Adams that if it was made before the days of CGI and franchises that are all the same film that this would have been a film that stood out. When you tell a story with good actors, a good story and very good script and all of that seems old fashioned then you know it must be 2018. But it doesn't look like an old fashioned film though. It's a small film and it's from Australia and it does a good job of not making you feel like you're anywhere in particular. Even time seems to have stood still to follow the sometimes funny and sometimes creepy adventures of a devil character messing with people's minds. All you need to know about the story is that there's a character that calls himself Jesus who has a bit of a racket going at an asylum. He has a following and is sure doing a lot of good until the devil comes along. Now I don't know who it was that said why should the devil get all the good tunes when they were talking about music, well the same usually happens when you stick a devil into a film. Well the devil in According To Ben Adams easily gets all the best lines. Bramwell Noah plays the devil and he's unbelievable. He does evil and dark and handsome in a plot that pits him up against a nemesis that's a Jesus with even more of a heartthrob presence. But the actor playing Jesus (Daniel Schepisi) can act too and he acts his heart out let me tell you. He gets help from a cheeky use of illustrations to literally illustrate the stories he tells and it works wonderfully. The whole package works too with everything coming together and everything thrown in. This film lived up to the hype and I loved every minute of this slice of brave cinema i'm going to call it. Like I said in the title to this review, I don't know what I was expecting. But all of the above is what I got. I think that puts me ahead.

A hard movie to get your head round - the premise of the movie offers promise but fails to deliver. The two main actors: Bramwell Noah as 'The Devil' is excellent in his role - giving a low key performance that oozes just the right amount of menace mixed with bafflement at the human experience. Daniel Schepisi - as 'Jesus' also shines - a very charismatic actor. Outside of these two actors I have to rate the rest of the cast as pretty poor - sorry - but just saying your lines is not acting. Rarely have I seen such an un-emotive cast - especially considering the setting - a Psychiatric Unit. The soundtrack was dismal - more a hash of random music clips strung together then a soundtrack. Not entirely sure what the addition of the Solicitor, Private Investigator et al were supposed to add to the the movie - and in retrospect, I'd have to say that they mere detracted from the general flow. Conclusion: A watchable movie but lacking any kind of real spark.

Well worth a watch, those with a short attention span probably wont like this but if you give a chance and watch it through you wont be disappointed, unconventional to say the least, thought provoking and has a occasional comedic moment. Ive seen so many different types of movie and i found this to be unique, at a 5.3 rating (at the time of this review) you'd be forgiven for giving it a miss but ratings are not everything as everyone is different. if you have time to watch this movie i urge you to do so. i wont say anymore as i don't want to spoil the film.

It is an outstanding movie. It's not what it is expected to be. It can be boring for those who like action, but for people who for people who adore wordplay or wit wars, it could be a real pleasure. This movie is not for feelings or compassion. It is for following the intricate little story. The pictures are good. The actors are right in their places. Also, I enjoyed sounds coming out of their mouths. The story flows showing humor and leaving nice feeling behind.

Dunno how this won any kind of awards, was boring and the use of music in it was atrocious......worse thing is I went into this really wanting to like this movie as I thought the premise was interesting but poor execution ruined it.