I watch Christian films because I am usually attracted to Biblical apocalypse themes. After watching the Revelation Road franchise, I have a new Christian film goal: watch all the films where Bruce Marchiano played Jesus. After watching Revelation Road, I looked up Marchiano on imdb and realized that I saw him play Jesus before in The Visual Bible: Matthew and The Visual Bible: Matthew, but I did not make the connection earlier. Marchiano has been in 16 films, and he has played Jesus in 11 of the 16 films! He is part Syrian so in my lifetime, Marciano may be the closest that we ever get to having a Middle Eastern actor cast as Jesus. I hope that I’m wrong.
I watched The Encounter to achieve my new goal. The Encounter takes place on a dark and stormy night when a highway patrolman, Deville (GET IT), stops five people on a road because of bad conditions, and they go to a diner to wait until the road is safe again. Jesus runs the diner. Jesus does not beat around the bush, feeds them and tries to save them or renew their bond with him before they get back on the road. The results are mixed.
The Encounter is a less an interesting story and more of a premise to create a situation where characters’ dialogue is really an exercise in apologetics, i.e. arguments for and against believing in Jesus.
Marchiano is initially a little creepy. My favorite scenes are when Jesus and Deville (GET IT) verbally tussle, but unfortunately The Encounter must not agree because it did not happen often enough.
If you are into Touched by an Angel, skip the middleman and go straight to Touched by Jesus with The Encounter. If you are not into Touched by an Angel, skip it. You will be bored to tears. The characters are one-dimensional. Curious Jaci Velasquez fans could take a peak.
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I would not dismiss The Encounter as another Christian film that prioritizes proselytizing over storyline. There are some subversive elements. The highway patrolman is the devil, and the unsaved guy is the most wealthy and popular person in the bunch, a former football player. Only the minorities and women decide to follow Jesus and live, which is more than most horror and slasher movies do and more in line with Biblical precepts. The Encounter may overall be one-dimensional Christian propaganda, but its parts are more progressive than its mainstream, better crafted counterparts.