Glenn Beck watched "Noah" last weekend, and calls it a major bust for anyone wanting a biblically sound story.
He recieved the invitation to see the movie after he harshly reviewed the film on his radio show last week.
Soon after he aired his thoughts on the film, Beck reports he got a phone call from a paramount executive asking him to come watch the movie before taking a position on it with his audience.
"I felt like kind of a dirtball, basing my review on something that I hadn't seen, on someone else's review," Beck said on his broadcast Monday. "That's what people do to me. They don't listen or watch, then they review. It was wrong of me to do," he said about his initial comments on the film.
But, alas, it seems Beck's screening of the movie did not change his feelings about the $150 million feature film.
"If you are looking for a biblical movie, this is definitely not it," He said. "It's not the story of Noah that I was hoping for. If you are going for that, you will be horribly disappointed."
I would love to come and report that the movie was great, but I can't," he said. "It's awful."
As far as specifics go, Beck said there was a multitude of things wrong with the film. For starters, He said that none of the characters had an authentic, loving relationship with God. He said Noah never prays, unless he is thinking of killing his family.
"I mean, it was strongly anti-human," Beck said.
He also said there was some strange storylines that didn't fit the Bible. In one scene he describes how "rock people" show up to help Noah, and explain that they also helped Adam.
"I felt really bad, because as the rock people storyline continued, we all got giggling fits and we started to laugh and mock the movie," Beck said. "And at one point, I looked over and realized the executive vice president of Paramount, who invited us, was observing how we were reacting to it. And I'm like, 'I don't think we're going to get out of here without telling him exactly how we feel, because I think he probably knows at this point.,'" he said.
But Beck said the biggest problem with the movie was "Noah himself."
"I always thought of Noah as more of a nice, gentle guy, prophet of God," he went on, "and less of the homicidal maniac that Paramount found in the Bible."
Beck said he needed more of the man that loves God, and less of a crazy person who wants to break down the doors inside the ark "to kill his whole family."
He said the movie was just ridiculous, and seemed more "comic" than a correct telling of the sacred story.
Beck said Noah shared his homicidal thoughts with one of his sons in the movie by explaining that, "People are evil. And God only wanted animals on the ark. And so we are all going to kill each other. And I am going to be first - I will kill all of you. Then you are going to kill me, then we will bury people once we get down on the ground again, then you are just going to have to kill yourself. I will trust you on that."
"It treats a prophet of God like a lunatic," Beck said. "There's no redeeming value in Noah, none. He hates people. I'm sorry. No prophet of God hates people."
He said he had conversations with those around him trying to determine if it would have been rude to get up and walk out. He said everyone in the screening got on their Ipads about half way through the movie.
"It's a $100 million disaster, that's what it is, a $100 million disaster" he said. "I wish I could have brought different news to you, but I can't, and I appreciate the people at paramount understanding.
As far as the the criticism goes, that isn't just coming from Beck, many of the cast and crew said that it was to be expected when making a biblical picture, but they also want people to reserve judgement until they actually see the movie.
In a recent interview with the Associated Press, Russell Crowe said he is eager for the movie to hit the big screen.
"We have endured 12 to 14 months of irrational criticism and now people are starting to see it and to realize how respectful it is, and how true to the source material it is and how intense of an experience it is in the movie theater, you know, so that's cool," he said.
Darren Aronofsky, the film's director, said he felt compelled to make the movie because the story is so important.
"No one has done the Noah story on film and for me that was very strange," he said. " It is one of the oldest stories ever told, it is one of our greatest stories, and it should be on the silver screen, so it very exciting to bring something of this kind of scope and epic to the big screen."
The film hits theaters across the country on Friday.
Other Christian leaders, including Cooke Picture founder Phil Cooke, King's College President George Thornbury, in the USA have also screened Noah and offer rather positive review. Watch the video below with the compilation of the Christian reviews:
