One Night with the King

Peter O'Toole begins this story as the prophet Samuel, proclaming that the Amalikite king and queen must be killed because they are haters of the Jews. The king that is beseached by Samuel disobeys and the Amalikite queen escapes with a baby in her womb. That baby grows into the man Haman who eventually seeks his revenge in Persia. John Rys-Davies is Mordecai, Hadassah or Esther's uncle. The beginning of the movie starts out a little cheasy w/ some bad acting as the movie sets the scene for Esther's time. But eventually it smoothes out into a pretty decent, epic experience. The palace of Persia is definately CG-ed but with some good results, made me even think hey they'd been using WETA workshop. Even Denethor from LOTR's (along with Gimli) makes a good performance as the King's second-hand man before Haman. Jesse and I loved every single dress Esther wears after she becomes queen. Her free-spirited and bold personality made me like the heroine even more. She wins the king's heart with beauty and intelligence set apart from the rest. I love the fact that a Jewish woman became queen over a nation. That is practically unheard of. She conceals her origin from the king until the end where she must plead for her people's lives. Haman is about to order the annihilation of the Jews in Persia, when Mordecai tells Esther she has to go to the king. He says, who knows, you might've been placed here for such a time as this (the famous and often quoted verse). To go before the king without being summoned is practically a death sentence. So she says, if I perish, I perish and then off she goes. The king is moved with compassion toward Esther and lowers his sceptor, a sign of favor. She asks him to meet her privately and then she makes her plea. I also love the fact that Haman's demise came from a Jew. That is God's justice. Haman is hung on the gallows intended for Mordecai. Anyway, go see it. It's an uplifting tale about the goodness of God and some of the scenes are beautifully shot. The costume design is pretty amazing. The king even has a tattoo.