Oh My God?

Reviewed 6 October 2009 by Ted Faraone

1 1/2 stars out of five; $3.00 ticket on a scale of $0 to $12.

AND THE ANSWER IS...27

In “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” a book and radio series popular about 30 years ago, the answer to the Ultimate Question is 27.  It should be left that way.

Peter Rodger, who was almost a one-man-band on “Oh My God?” attempts to answer the question, “What is God?” in a 93 minute documentary.  Really.  Rodger is director, writer, producer, and cinematographer.  That combo alone is a herculean task for any filmmaker.  Putting the nature of God on film… well, that’s just impossible because the question is beyond human competence.  The 1 ½ stars your critic gives the doc are for guts, not execution.  Roger takes a lot of risks.  Some pay off, but he set himself an impossible task.

In the Beginning, there was Annoyance. 

A cacophony of religious incantation, overlapping psalms, hymns, prayers, in nearly every Earthly language builds to an ear splitting crescendo.  We get the idea.  Everyone has a different notion of the divine, but Rodger’s way of conveying it is physically painful.  Rodger spans the globe.  We hear from Muslims, both militant and anti-militant, Buddhists, Catholics, Anglicans, Jews, Hindus…and the list goes on.  Everyone has a different take on the divine, and all are handled respectfully, with the possible exception of one bearded Muslim, who, according the Imam who is Director of the Islamic Center of Southern California, completely misunderstands the Koran with regard to killing Christians and Jews (The bearded man is in favor).  In fact, the Imam says, the Koran teaches that Heaven is open to all people of good deeds despite differences of religion.

Editor John Hoyt employs a great many jump cuts to keep things moving.  He needn’t.  Cutting is so fast that it actually detracts at times from the content.  Again, credit here is for guts more than execution.

Perhaps pic’s most significant scene involves an elderly Hindu official in India.  The distinguished man, speaking in almost perfect British-accented English, is a high level civil servant who deals with relations between people of differing faiths, a serious matter in India.  He recounts how, in his childhood, Hindus and Muslims who had lived side by side in peace for centuries suddenly became enemies in the political dust-up leading to Indian independence from the British Empire.  It’s a chilling story.  His mother instructed him to sleep at night with a sword under his pillow.  If the Muslims attacked, he should kill as many as possible.  If he was to be overwhelmed, he should kill his sister before killing himself.  The Hindu’s words are subtitled.  That’s odd, because he is easy to understand.  Others, not so comprehensible, lack subtitles.  Go figure.

Pic’s only totally cheap shot is a series of celebrity interviews included, no doubt, for promotional reasons.  Subjects include Hugh Jackman, Ringo Starr, Sir Bob Geldof, David Copperfield, Seal, and Princess Michael of Kent (fancy seeing her outside a gossip column).  They add nothing.

Confounded by the impossibility of his quest, Rodger resorts to a platitude:  If only we’d all show some love….

Give us a break.

While tech credits largely excel, pic falls short in one area:  The scenes where Rodger goes on camera to opine.  Therein the sound recording is terrible.

“Oh My God?” is not rated.  It doesn’t matter.  You can take the kids, but they’ll probably sleep through it.

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