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Review #279 of 365
Film: One Night with the King (2006) [PG] 123 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $7.00
Where Viewed: United Artists Denver Pavilions Stadium 15, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 17 October 2006
Time: 8:15 p.m.
Film's Official Website
DVD Release Date: 23 January, 2007
Directed by: Michael O. Sajbel (The Ride)
Screenplay by: Stephan Blinn (The Omega Code) based on the novel, Hadassah co-written by Mark Andrew Olsen and Tommy Tenney
Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Tiffany Dupont ("The Bedford Diaries") • Luke Goss (Blade II) • Tommy 'Tiny' Lister (Dracula 3000) • James Callis ("Battlestar Galactica") • John Noble (Running Scared) • John Rhys-Davies (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) • Omar Sharif (Hidalgo) • Peter O'Toole (Casanova)
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
Press releases for the new Biblical film telling the story of Queen Esther's rise to save the Jewish people from annihilation pre the birth of Christ have billed Michael O. Sajbel's One Night with the King as the film that will give rebirth to epic films. Unfortunately, what the release may mean is that this film will give rebirth to the look and feel of the old epic films such as Lawrence of Arabia—no offense intended, but the technology available when such legendary films were made give these films a certain look, sound, and feel. All of which are fairly faithfully recreated, even the less than dramatic, semi-cheesy music, and sound effects for use in this film. Perhaps, even the dialogue and the sets also to a degree. My goodness, they even brought back Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif. The word unfortunately was chosen purposefully because it truly is unfortunate that this film has turned out looking as ancient as the story. When telling a great story, one does not want the look of the story to distract from the story. That is the truly unfortunate thing. Given the technology and standards of movie-making today, usually moviemakers want their films to look as brilliantly as possible. Think of Peter Jackson's epic Lord of the Rings Trilogy. With all due respect to the makers of One Night with the King, but I'd have to say that three Best Picture nominations an a win for Mr. Jackon's epic films proves the genre was hardly a lame duck or dead for that matter. And these three films if one were to mention no others even, were of such a phenomenal production value, that if one is going to arrogantly tout a film as the one to resurrect a genre...
On October 13, 2006, Gener8Xion Entertainment plans to recapture the glory and splendor of what going to the movies used to be about with the nationwide release of "One Night with the King.—from the Film Press Release
…one had better realize the expectations set for self are incredibly high. One that, sadly, to which probably no film could live up, even if one brings back Omar Sharif and Peter O'Toole and films in "exotic" locations within the palaces of Rajasthan, India.
"…a disappointing film that not only doesn't seem 'epic' today when compared with such glorious epics as The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, it would not have seemed epic in 1962 up against Lawrence of Arabia "
The story is that of the Jewish orphan Hadassah (Tiffany Dupont) and her eventual rise to become the Queen of Persia wife of King Xerxes. Her parents are killed when she was just a child, as part of a revenge blood feud led by Hamen (James Callis), descendant of the Amelekite Queen who escaped when it was ordered by the Jewish people that all Amelekite's be killed. She grows up in the care of her uncle Mordecai (John Rhys-Davies) who serves the king of Persia as a scribe. As she develops into a fine young woman, times in Persia grow increasingly dangerous with the encroachment of the Greeks into their lands and the death of Xerxes's father at the hands of the Greeks who are spreading their concept of democracy for government rather than royal lineage, something the Persian King and Princes do not wish to see. Hamen, meanwhile has managed to align himself with favors to Prince Admantha (John Noble) eventually worming his way into a position of great power as head of the security for the King. And this allows him to beging to unite the Persian people against the Jews and eventually, he hopes to have them all killed. As Xerxes presses on with the notion of going to war with the Greeks, his Queen Vashti, hopes for a different future. This eventually costs her here position opening the door for Xerxes to select a new Queen. Women from all over the empire are gathered and brought to the palace for a night with the King for him to select his new queen. Likewise many young men are rounded up and turned into eunuchs to serve the King. The King's most trusted servant, Hagai (Tommy Lister) is put in charge of the process and educations of protocol and beautification of the candidates for Queen. Many days pass, and Mordecai fears that eventually, the King's men will come and take Hadassah to the the palace for consideration. So, he decides and makes her promise to forget her Jewish past and become Esther of Susa. Sure enough, the King's men do come and take her in the middle of the night just as she has convinced herself to leave Susa and join the caravan back to Jerusalem to see the homeland of her ancestors. And, of course, over time, she rises to become the favored selection for queen by Hagai, and then by Xerxes himself. All the while Hamen continues to rise in favor with the King himself. When Esther is finally coronated, there is a huge call for celebration in Persia, and a time of peace as Xerxes readied his plans for war with Greece. The evil Prince Admantha plots with Hamen to kill Xerxes with poison. In a swift turn of events, the plot is foiled by Mordecai who over hears the food taster's plans to buy the poison, tells Esther, who informs Hamen, who turns on the Prince by revealing Adamantha's plot to Xerxes. Xerxes trusts Hamen's word vs. Adamantha, and sentences him to death turning over his house and wealth to Hamen who is then declared a Prince. Suddenly, everything is falling into place for the execution of Hamen's penultimate plan to eradicate all Jews from Persia. All he needs now is for Xerxes to leave Persia to fight the Greeks and leave him in charge of the rest of Persia. The only thing that stands in his way, is the Queen of hidden Jewish heritage and her willingness to stand up for her people.
Thus is the epic story of Hadassah. If you know your Bible stories well, then you will know that she succeeds in saving her people and bringing peace to Persia during her reign. The story has been handed down for generations among the Jewish people as being among the greatest and most important stories of their history. It is celebrated annually as Purim. It is a truly great story, however, it has not here been turned into a truly great movie. The first problem lies in the casting. Tiffany Dupont simply does not come across as one who would rise to become Queen Esther. Bearing some slight resemblance to Anne Hathaway, she's too pouty, too meek. The role required an unknown actress who will become the next Elizabeth Taylor. Luke Goss was a fine King Xerxes, big and strong with a passion for sculpting. He fit the bill well except that maybe he was a touch on the George Hamilton too tanned for your own good side. As for John Rhys-Davies, with all due respect to Peter Jackson, he was about as good here as Mordecai as he was as Gimli—the weak link in the Frodo's band. Omar Sharif and Peter O'Toole are in the film, barely. In the case of O'Toole this is good fortune, for he's in and out without barely much notice. The still-commanding Omar Sharif, however, is stuck playing this back seat Prince Memucan role where he advises Xerxes without much success after Xerxes's father is killed. The only actor who really gets into his role, however, is James Callis playing the kooky, hell-bent on destruction, Hamen with nearly the same semi-lucid, self-denial he captures in his brilliant and far better portrayal of Dr. Gaius Baltar on the also infinitely better Battlestar Galactica. Even so, he's often reduced, in his overgrown beardly make-up, to smarmy remarks and grimaces. Next, there is the problem with the cinematography. Again, the film's production notes provided by the press reads...
Thus is the epic story of Hadassah. If you know your Bible stories well, then you will know that she succeeds in saving her people and bringing peace to Persia during her reign. The story has been handed down for generations among the Jewish people as being among the greatest and most important stories of their history. It is celebrated annually as Purim. It is a truly great story, however, it has not here been turned into a truly great movie. The first problem lies in the casting. Tiffany Dupont simply does not come across as one who would rise to become Queen Esther. Bearing some slight resemblance to Anne Hathaway, she's too pouty, too meek. The role required an unknown actress who will become the next Elizabeth Taylor. Luke Goss was a fine King Xerxes, big and strong with a passion for sculpting. He fit the bill well except that maybe he was a touch on the George Hamilton too tanned for your own good side. As for John Rhys-Davies, with all due respect to Peter Jackson, he was about as good here as Mordecai as he was as Gimli—the weak link in the Frodo's band. Omar Sharif and Peter O'Toole are in the film, barely. In the case of O'Toole this is good fortune, for he's in and out without barely much notice. The still-commanding Omar Sharif, however, is stuck playing this back seat Prince Memucan role where he advises Xerxes without much success after Xerxes's father is killed. The only actor who really gets into his role, however, is James Callis playing the kooky, hell-bent on destruction, Hamen with nearly the same semi-lucid, self-denial he captures in his brilliant and far better portrayal of Dr. Gaius Baltar on the also infinitely better Battlestar Galactica. Even so, he's often reduced, in his overgrown beardly make-up, to smarmy remarks and grimaces. Next, there is the problem with the cinematography. Again, the film's production notes provided by the press reads...
Epic. It is a term bandied about so cavalierly these days that it has all but lost its meaning. Yet many can remember that seemingly by-gone era when true Epics ruled the silver screen and audiences packed theatres to be transported to another time and place. They came to lose themselves in non-computer generated worlds of sweeping human emotion, too vast to be captured by the confines of their televisions, during an age when going to the movies was still considered by many to be a genuine religious experience.--Film Production Notes
Well, again, if you are going to try to draw current moviegoers whom, I guess, do not still consider going to the movies to be a "…genuine religious experience…" with a film that is supposed to be a genuine religious experience, you've got to consider this is 2006, not 1962, and people really don't want to see giant matte paintings, detailed though they may be and sets that look like a brisk wind will knock them over. I don't find the line about people wanting to be lost in non-computer generated worlds, when, in fact, there were not computer-generated worlds in 1962 for people to be worried about getting lost in. I can only guess the writer of this release, trying to explain why this film's producers and director chose not to make this film look amazing like epics of today. They must have really wanted this to look like it was made in 1962, and at that, they succeeded. Normally, I don't pay that much attention to the music of a film. I know it's incredibly important. I know that sound effects can really botch a film. This is such a basic part of movie-making these days, that if a director gets the right people, its nearly a no-brainer. This film, however, I couldn't help but notice how awful the music was. Again, 1962 epic music? More like 1922 epic music, maybe. I think film loops I saw at Vacation Bible Camp when I was in 2nd grade had better soundtracks. Finally, there's the story itself. This is supposed to be a great story. The voice-overs that fill in the gaps of the story by John Rhys-Davies himself as Mordecai the Jew, the teller of the tale, official scribe of the King and eventual Prince himself, constantly remind us as to how great a story this is, it really didn't seem like that great of a story the way it was told in this film. Maybe it was the sheepish way in which Esther was portrayed. Maybe it was the over-emphasis on the bond between Hagai the eunuch and Esther. Maybe it was her bumbling, eunuch pal with whom she one planned to runawy to Jerusalem who keeps popping up at just the right moment with a message only for the Queen. Maybe it was the fact that the film never really gives any sense of urgency to the Jewish people that they are about to be slaughtered. They seem to go about their business not worried about a thing. Other than one nasty scene where Hamen bops Mordecai in the head with his staff for failing to bow down to him, there's really no sense of impending doom. Nor does the film give any sense as to what would or could have been lost were all of the Jews to have been killed. What were they doing in Persia at the time? What vital role did they play in the operation of the Kingdom? They were accumulating wealth in some way, and it would seem that simply deciding to wipe them out to take it to fund a war, would have been a very short-sited decision on the part of the King. A king that was portrayed as a contemplative and decisive figure, not easily swayed by the court of public opinion except in the matter of his first Queen's refusal to come when summoned. Basically, it all boils down to this. The producers claim to have wanted to make an epic to restore the reputation of epics, and instead they have made a disappointing film that not only doesn't seem 'epic' today when compared with such glorious epics as The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, it would not have seemed epic in 1962 up against Lawrence of Arabia.
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Other Projects Featuring One Night with the King (2006)
Cast Members
Tiffany Dupont
• Luke Goss • Tommy 'Tiny' ListerJames Callis
• John Noble • John Rhys-DaviesOmar Sharif
• Peter O'TooleDirector
Michael O. Sajbel
Writer
Stephan Blinn
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One Night with the King (2006) Review-lite [150-word cap]
Press releases for the Michael O. Sajbel's film, One Night with the King, based on the Biblical story of the Jewish orphan Hadassah's (Tiffany Dupont) rise to become Queen Esther of Persia, savior of her Jewish people, have billed the film as the one that will give rebirth to epics. A great story it might be, however, this is neither a great nor epic film. The casting, acting, music, and cinematography are all on par with film loops shown to children at Vacation Bible Camp in the 1970s. Claiming to have wanted to make an epic to restore the reputation of epics, the producers have instead made a disappointing film that not only doesn't seem 'epic' today when compared with such glorious epics as The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, it would not have seemed epic in 1962 up against Lawrence of Arabia.
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