‘Paul, Apostle of Christ’ is a moving examination of faith and courage

“Paul, Apostle of Christ” comes from the Affirm label, which has produced such Christian-themed dramas as “Heaven Is for Real.” Less interested in blunt proselytizing than more open-ended explorations of faith and its challenges, Affirm films have gratifyingly avoided the kind of Sunday-school pageantry that characterizes so many movies of the genre.

“Paul, Apostle of Christ” is no exception. A portrait of the titular Christian convert and leader of the early church as he faces imprisonment and martyrdom at the hands of Roman oppressors, this absorbing drama benefits from lush production values and first-rate performances from a cast of seasoned actors.

The story focuses on Luke (Jim Caviezel), a colleague of Paul’s in setting up early Christian communities, as he visits his incarcerated friend, desperately recording his final words while Nero’s forces torture and murder their brothers and sisters outside the prison gates.

Writer/director Andrew Hyatt includes flashbacks of Paul’s famous conversion, from tormentor of Christians to a believer, while on the road to Damascus. Those sequences are filmed in a milky, slow-motion haze that threatens to drench “Paul” in sentimentality. But when the action returns to Rome, the movie becomes far tougher and more intriguing.

Caviezel, who played Jesus in Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” is convincing as a man of both reason and belief. James Faulkner brings sonorous authority and deep sensitivity to Paul, whose insistence on following Christ’s most essential commandments — to love God and to love one’s neighbor as oneself — is both gentle and uncompromisingly courageous.

Next to Faulkner’s quietly affecting portrayal, the most compelling passages take place in Rome’s embattled Christian quarter, where a frightened and rapidly fraying community is wondering whether to stay and fight or escape to rebuild.

“Paul, Apostle of Christ” is clearly well timed with Lenten reflections on sacrifice, service, suffering and responsibility. But it offers an equally relevant and inspiring portrayal of principled steadfastness and spiritual integrity in the face of a petty, corrupt and tyrannical leader.

In that sense, and appropriately enough, “Paul, Apostle of Christ” offers both solace and a bracing, even revolutionary, challenge.

This story was originally published March 22, 2018 at 1:47 PM with the headline "‘Paul, Apostle of Christ’ is a moving examination of faith and courage."