Movie Recommendation

We just finished One Night With The King, a film adaptation of the Bible book of Esther. If you're not familiar, this is a book about a Jewish woman who wound up queen of Persia shortly before her position was needed to save the Jews from extinction. The movie is not entirely "faithful" to the book, but as it is a short book without enough detail to properly fill a feature-length film, that isn't a problem. Most of the embellishments fall along the lines of those made in The Nativity Story. Plausible but not historically verifiable dialog is grafted in, scenes expanded, etc. Haman's hatred for the Jews is expanded beyond what the book tells us, but it is not entirely impossible and allows for the suspension of disbelief required for a fictionalized story.

This would be a movie I'd say that people that have no direct interest in the Bible or the history of the Jews can enjoy. It is a very well done drama with talented actors and breathtaking cinematography. One of the facets of the book of Esther that Bible students are encouraged to take note of is the nearly grotesque overabundance of wealth. The film captures this excessive opulence in clothing, jewelry, architecture and general lifestyle down to exquisite details. My only complaint is that I felt that sometimes the music didn't quite match up to the onscreen activities, although I think most people wouldn't notice or care. My wife also found the use of "King's English" a bit much considering the people this movie is intended to portray would not have spoken English. I personally didn't have problems with the way the dialog was scripted, although I see her point to a degree.

Overall, anyone who likes a good drama and love story set in ancient times should put this movie on their Netflix list.