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About a week ago, I went to see End of the Spear in great anticipation. Surely, I thought, this movie would be like the groundbreaking movies proceeding it: movies such as The Passion of the Christ. I have known the story of Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Pete Fleming, Roger Youderian, and Ed McCully ever since I was about eight, and their story has had and continues to have a great impact on me. I expected this movie to move me as well.

 

I was sorely disappointed. It didn't have any of the emotional impact it should have had. I remember thinking to myself during different parts of the movie that I should be crying or at last have a feeling of greater remorse. Instead, I was able to watch the movie quite passively. Something was definitely not right. But the question resounding through my head was simply this: what was it about this movie that made it so emotionally unmoving?

 

One of the problems, I believe, was that it was supposed to be a drama but it ended up feeling like a documentary. All too often, it failed to put you in the character’s shoes. The characters as portrayed in this movie were not personal to me. They were strangers, and I was simply watching them move about their daily lives like I used to watch the ants on my patio.

 

The acting sometimes seemed strained or overdone. I was very impressed by the actor who played Mincayani. However, the acting of Chad Allen as Steve Saint disappointed me, especially during the confrontation scene. It seemed like he was overexerting himself. I could tell he was trying to make clear an inner struggle, but all I got was that he was trying. The dialogue didn’t help either, as it seemed rather stinted.

 

It also skipped around quite a bit. 40 years after the event, Steve Saint comes back and Mincayani is suddenly transformed. We don’t get much of a chance to view his struggle, nor did we get a true glimpse of how he was changed. Any movie-goer unfamiliar with the story would consider this highly unrealistic. And strangely enough, it seemed that none of the characters had aged a day, except Steve, of course.

 

While I have so far pointed out the movie’s faults, I also want to point out the good things about it. The acting of the little boy who played the younger Steve Saint was rather impressive. Also, the fateful scene on Palm Beach was very well done. The shock portrayed on the missionaries’ faces; the realization of all the doubts that must have been running through their minds; Steve calling through the radio, and Mincayani finding Steve’s picture were all powerful. Also, I was very pleased by the completely factual portrayal of this story. I must confess that I was rather wary of them adding in something to “spice it up”. Nothing of the sort happened, to my satisfaction. This movie is good to expose people to the story of these five missionaries to the Aucas but is not the best emotional telling of the tale.

 

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