Dark Highways

Who is this movie for?

Certainly not devout Christians who were certain to shun it when it became clear that the preacher at the center of the story is a conman.

Nor atheists, who would likely revolt when the movie shows an active God who (SPOILERS) not only heals people but also brings rain when the faithful need it the most.

Perhaps, it was meant for a select group of bemused agnostics.

Steve Martin plays faith healer Jonas Nightengale (great name!) who ends up stuck in a small farming community and uses his revival show to part the marks with their money.

I can’t speak for movie audiences in 1992 but I know I watched Leap of Faith because of distribution systems.

You see kids, in the before times, we had to watch whatever was on cable television. You would scroll through and then pick something. And on more than one day in the 1990s Leap of Faith was the best of all available options.

I have a lot of affection for this movie which moves me, has a lot to say about true faith and the wicked people who exploit it but isn’t quite funny enough to be remembered as a great Steve Martin film nor dramatic enough to work on that level. 

Early Liam Nissian and early Philip Seymour Hoffman and Meatloaf all do a lot even when they ain’t given much to do. 

And Debra Winger has fun playing the conman’s gal pal and the Sheriff’s love interest.

I like Steve Martin’s cowboy hat a lot and his cowboy boots. Someone should have given him a real western right around this time. He could have made it work.

A lot of the Steve Martin as fire and brimstone preacher stuff plays well. It’s very easy to lose your way here but Martin mostly finds the right note.

There is a miracle of sorts at the end of the film. It happens as Jonas is casting himself out of town because … well it’s never spelled out but I would say it’s because something inside Jonas is changed.

When you get to that ending you might recall that in the Bible Jonah had an encounter with God. And that he too ended up in a heavy rain storm.