The Celestine Prophecy (film)
Encyclopedia
The Celestine Prophecy is a 2006 American film directed by Armand Mastroianni
and starring Matthew Settle
, Thomas Kretschmann
, and Sarah Wayne Callies
. The film is based on James Redfield
's best-selling novel of the same name
.
novel sold over 23 million copies since its publication in 1993 and has thus become one of the best-selling books of all time, Redfield had expected the film to be a success. However, the film was almost universally panned by critics and was a box office failure with a total worldwide gross of less than $1 million. As of February 9, 2010, the aggregate review website Rotten Tomatoes
registered only one positive review out of a total of 23 which gives the film a rating of 4%. As of the same date, Metacritic
, another aggregate review website, registered a score of 23 out of 100 based on 10 reviews. Film critic Mick LaSalle
of the San Francisco Chronicle
called the film "clumsy -- not merely unconventional but awkward in its narrative development and dialogue", also adding that the "characters are sketched in shallow terms". In his top ten list of the worst films of 2006, LaSalle called it a "misbegotten film, an awkward, undramatic effort" and named it as number three on the list. Mark Olsen of the Los Angeles Times
said "the movie is flatly acted and extremely ill-paced, lacking any sense of urgency, momentum or fun".
Armand Mastroianni
Armand Mastroianni is an American film director. He is the father of Paul Mastroianni who is also pursuing a career in filmmaking. Armand Mastroianni's directorial debut was the 1980 horror film He Knows You're Alone which was also the screen debut of actor Tom Hanks...
and starring Matthew Settle
Matthew Settle
Jeffrey Matthew Settle is an American actor best known for playing Captain Ronald Speirs on the HBO show Band of Brothers and Rufus Humphrey on Gossip Girl.-Career:...
, Thomas Kretschmann
Thomas Kretschmann
Thomas Kretschmann is a German actor best known for playing Leutnant Hans Von Witzland in the 1993 film Stalingrad, Hauptmann Wilm Hosenfeld in The Pianist, Hermann Fegelein in Der Untergang, and Captain Englehorn in the 2005 remake of King Kong.-Early life:Kretschmann was born in Dessau, former...
, and Sarah Wayne Callies
Sarah Wayne Callies
Sarah Wayne Callies is an American actress who is best known for her role as Sara Tancredi in the American television series Prison Break. She now plays Lori Grimes in The Walking Dead.- Early life :...
. The film is based on James Redfield
James Redfield
James Redfield is an American author, lecturer, screenwriter and film producer. He is notable for his novel The Celestine Prophecy .-Biography:...
's best-selling novel of the same name
The Celestine Prophecy
The Celestine Prophecy is a 1993 novel by James Redfield that discusses various psychological and spiritual ideas which are rooted in many ancient Eastern Traditions and New Age spirituality. The main character of the novel undertakes a journey to find and understand a series of nine spiritual...
.
Cast and characters
- Matthew SettleMatthew SettleJeffrey Matthew Settle is an American actor best known for playing Captain Ronald Speirs on the HBO show Band of Brothers and Rufus Humphrey on Gossip Girl.-Career:...
- John - Thomas KretschmannThomas KretschmannThomas Kretschmann is a German actor best known for playing Leutnant Hans Von Witzland in the 1993 film Stalingrad, Hauptmann Wilm Hosenfeld in The Pianist, Hermann Fegelein in Der Untergang, and Captain Englehorn in the 2005 remake of King Kong.-Early life:Kretschmann was born in Dessau, former...
- Wil - Sarah Wayne CalliesSarah Wayne CalliesSarah Wayne Callies is an American actress who is best known for her role as Sara Tancredi in the American television series Prison Break. She now plays Lori Grimes in The Walking Dead.- Early life :...
- Marjorie - Annabeth GishAnnabeth GishAnnabeth Gish is an American actress known for starring roles in Shag, Mystic Pizza and Double Jeopardy. She is best known for her roles as Special Agent Monica Reyes on The X-Files, Elizabeth Bartlet Westin on The West Wing and as Eileen Caffee on the Showtime drama Brotherhood.-Personal...
- Julia - Héctor ElizondoHector ElizondoHéctor Elizondo is an American actor. Elizondo's first major role was that of "God" in the play Steambath, for which he won an Obie Award...
- Cardinal Sebastian - Joaquim de AlmeidaJoaquim de AlmeidaJoaquim António Portugal Baptista de Almeida is a Portuguese-born American actor. He began his acting doing some theater. During the 1980s, he started his film career appearing on the 1982 action film The Soldier, and later achieved recognition for playing Andrea Bonanno in the 1987 Italian film...
- Father Sánchez - Jürgen ProchnowJürgen ProchnowJürgen Prochnow is a German actor. His most well-known roles internationally have been as the sympathetic submarine captain in Das Boot , Duke Leto Atreides I in Dune , the minor, but important role of Neo-Stalinist dictator General Ivan Radek in Air Force One and the villain Maxwell Dent in...
- Jensen - John AylwardJohn AylwardJohn Aylward is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for playing the former DNC chairman Barry Goodwin on the NBC television series The West Wing and for playing Dr. Donald Anspaugh on the NBC television series ER. He also supplied his voice for Dr. Arne Magnusson in Half-Life 2: Episode...
- Dobson - Cástulo GuerraCastulo GuerraCástulo Guerra is an Argentine actor who found success appearing in American films and television. Film roles include: Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Cold Heaven, The Usual Suspects, Meet Me in Miami, Where the River Runs Black and The Celestine Prophecy""...
- Father José - Obba BabatundéObba BabatundeObba Babatundé is an American actor of stage and screen, known for his Emmy-nominated performance in the television movie Miss Evers' Boys, a NAACP Image Award-nominated performance in the TV movie Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, and a Tony Award-nominated role for his performance as C.C...
- Miguel - Vinicius MachadoVinicius MachadoVinicius Machado is best known for playing Faymen Phorchin on the teen sitcom Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide as Moze's boyfriend. In the episode "Tests & When You Like Someone Who Is Going Out With Someone Else" he moves back to Brazil to compete in a soccer competition...
- Spanish Conquistador (uncredited)
Reception
Due to the fact that The Celestine ProphecyThe Celestine Prophecy
The Celestine Prophecy is a 1993 novel by James Redfield that discusses various psychological and spiritual ideas which are rooted in many ancient Eastern Traditions and New Age spirituality. The main character of the novel undertakes a journey to find and understand a series of nine spiritual...
novel sold over 23 million copies since its publication in 1993 and has thus become one of the best-selling books of all time, Redfield had expected the film to be a success. However, the film was almost universally panned by critics and was a box office failure with a total worldwide gross of less than $1 million. As of February 9, 2010, the aggregate review website Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
registered only one positive review out of a total of 23 which gives the film a rating of 4%. As of the same date, Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, another aggregate review website, registered a score of 23 out of 100 based on 10 reviews. Film critic Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle is an American Mick LaSalle is an [[United States|American]] Mick LaSalle is an [[United States|American]] [[film reviewer] and the author of two books on pre-[[Motion Picture Production Code|Hays Code]] Hollywood...
of the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
called the film "clumsy -- not merely unconventional but awkward in its narrative development and dialogue", also adding that the "characters are sketched in shallow terms". In his top ten list of the worst films of 2006, LaSalle called it a "misbegotten film, an awkward, undramatic effort" and named it as number three on the list. Mark Olsen of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
said "the movie is flatly acted and extremely ill-paced, lacking any sense of urgency, momentum or fun".
External links
- The Celestine Prophecy at Rotten TomatoesRotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...