Movie Tour: The Book of Eli

I had a couple hours to steal away the other day and took advantage of them to see a movie that I knew Katie didn't want to see. As you can probably guess from the title, it was The Book of Eli.

Plot Summary
The Book of Eli takes place 30 years after "the big flash," as the characters refer to it. From the landscape, some dialog and the bleak feel of the movie, "the big flash" is a part of a nuclear war. Most of the younger people in the world cannot read as books are at a premium, and literacy is not a priority; survival is. Eli is a man who travels the road, which is a dangerous place to be; full of gangs that will kill you for any of the littlest things that you might be carrying around. Eli carries something that is beyond rare in the world - a Bible. After the big flash, people blamed religion, and all the Bibles in the world were burned, except this one, which Eli claims he found by following the instructions of a voice in his head. Eli travels to a town ruled be a man named Carnegie, who desperately desires what Eli has for very different reasons.

Review
I really liked this movie. It is a rare movie that puts such an emphasis on the importance of the Bible and does so in a very un-hokey way. On the flip side, The Book of Eli is very violent at points and the language is less than savory; however, these add to the feel of the post-apocalyptic world, rather than detract from the movie. The importance of Eli's devotional life is a crucial lesson, one that sticks out to the reader as the movie comes to a close.

Recommendation
Language and violence make this a movie with less appeal to the masses, but I still think it is a worthwhile use of your time if you are even slightly interested in it. It is probably one of the best movies of this young year, but it won't get widespread appeal because of the much-deserved R rating. It is one that I would watch again.

Best Part
The closing of the movie. The way everything comes together in the end is pretty unexpected. At one point, Eli has a choice between the life of a person and maintaining his course. And we get to see the true meaning of Scripture in the decision that he makes.

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