The Book of Eli

This was our romantic Valentine's Day outing movie. Ha! Not my first choice, but it was the best common ground we could find. (I didn't even bother trying to convince Hud that he wanted to see the Percy Jackson movie or Valentine's Day.)

I knew beforehand the concept that Denzel Washington's character possessed the last Bible in the world, and I had worried that the movie would denigrate God and the Bible, so I was relieved to find out that wasn't true at all. In fact, I feel like Eli summed it up pretty well when he said he'd been so busy trying to protect the book that he forgot to live what he learned from it: Do for others more than you do for yourself.

What I didn't know beforehand is that this movie is post-apocalyptic in the vein of Mad Max, The Postman, or Waterworld (without the water). I guess if I had looked at the movie poster or watched a preview I would have been forewarned, but alas, I did not. I am really not a fan of this sort of movie. The scenery is invariably depressingly ugly, and the people are all so dirty, greasy, and grungy. Not only that, but I found the movie very gory, with severed heads and limbs flying everywhere. Eli really whoops up on some folks. Funny thing is, my husband didn't think it was gory at all, because all of that sort of action is mostly seen in silhouette. I still call it gory.

I asked my husband what else he thought about the movie and he kind of just shrugged and said it was entertainment (which is funny, because I thought it was fairly thought-provoking), and that he probably wouldn't buy it when it came out on DVD (and that I did agree with). But if you are trying to decide whether you want to see it in the theater or if you'll wait until you can rent it, I say wait. It's not a movie that just begs to be seen on the big screen. I think the story is more important than seeing it big and loud. I do think you'll want to watch it once, though.

One of my favorite things about the movie was the song we hear Eli playing on his iPod, which is "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?" by Al Green. It's a very pretty and old-fashioned song that really stands out in contrast with Eli's harsh reality.