May 3

The Reaping

I watched The Reaping last night. 

I was left with some questions, questions which get to the heart of the movie (that’s B-speak for “spoilers ahead”).

1.  Is the house in The Reaping the same as the house in The Skeleton Key?

2.  Why have none of my interns looked even remotely like Idris Elba?

3.  What accent where those folks supposed to be speaking with?  It wasn’t quite “Hollywood Country Accent” but it sure as hell wasn’t “Hollywood Cajun Accent” but it bugged.

4.  I know these folks are supposed to be Satanists, but they are also rural Louisianans with no cell phone service and, seemingly, no tvs.  I buy the killing off of the second children, but then it seemed to go without saying that, if all the second children had been killed, it would be a town full of only first-born children.  How is that possible?  Yes, now, with the rise of birth control and the ubiquitous use of the condom, but even fifty years ago, it seems like you’ve have had families with more than two kids, if only because there’s nothing else to do and it’s really hard for only three people to run a farm.  I guess we’re supposed to gather that they’re a Satanic cult not that interested in having sex?  What a dull Satanic cult!

5.  In some different movie, one I would have actually liked, there would have been more ambiguity.  I mean, what if killing her daughter had ended the famine?  What if it was more ambiguous what was going on in the town?  Were they evil or was the little girl evil?  Because people believe what they believe not because they’re so straight-forwardly in the thrall of evil.  They believe what they believe because, to some extent, it works for them and seems to be the right thing to do.

6.  But the thing I could not get past is that no one seemed to use any bug spray.  I really like Louisiana, but I found it to be buggy and muggy and was surprised to see none of them even secretly squirting a little Off on.  Are mosquitos repelled by Satan?

10 thoughts on “The Reaping”

  5. I loved this movie. I really liked the twist at the end where it was the town that was evil and now Hillary Swank was carrying their main bad seed…
    I do not normally like these movies, but this one was good.

  7. Coble, I would pay good money to watch you watch this movie. For one, yes, there are scenes in the movie that seem dedicated only to seeing Elba’s back and arms. Two, I want to hear you fight with the movie about, first, the main character, and then the plagues.

    I don’t know how long this is on Demand, but you must promise me I can come over and watch it with you.

    You’ll hate it, I think. But you’ll hate it in a way that delights me.

  8. I watched The Reaping on a 3.4-inch screen on a long car trip. It was good enough to pass the time and that’s all I needed it for ;-)

  9. On a related note, have you seen “The Gathering”? It’s another pseudo-Christian-themed thriller. It was awful, but I think the idea behind it was freaking awesome. If somebody with writing talent would pick up that idea and write an actual story to go with it, I think there’s a great movie to be made in there.

  10. I don’t know how long this is on Demand, but you must promise me I can come over and watch it with you.

    On Demand or not, that sounds like a good excuse to hit UnBox.

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