Jacob (1994)

Lacking in Biblical accuracy

I have seen some of the other movies from the Bible collection like Joseph and Esther and they seemed to try to stay fairly close to the biblical account. This movie on the other hand was constantly irritating for anyone that is familiar with the real story of Jacob. Several parts were way off and even ridiculous. For one, as soon as Jacob meets Rachel he immediately kisses her passionately on the lips and she takes off running away and Jacob chases after her and comes to Laban's house. In the Bible Jacob greeted her with a kiss which was a normal and traditional greeting and they were so overjoyed to run into each other that Rachel ran back to Laban's house and told him that Jacob had come and then Laban ran out to meet Jacob and welcome him with joy. Then another very disturbing aspect of the movie was that Esau is constantly saying damn this and damn that and damn you which is absurd and extra-biblical to say the very least. One more part that was far off was the meeting of Jacob and Esau when Jacob heads back home. In the Bible Esau ran to embrace his brother with love and joy but in the movie he comes to him angry and puts a sword to his neck and says that if it was not for God he would kill Jacob. Just for all the cursing and foolish lust it portrays this one is going in the garbage can. Save yourself some money and skip over it. June 16, 2008

The Least is Still Pretty Good

I consider this to be the least of the BIBLE COLLECTION done by Turner some years ago but even the least is pretty good.

This tells the story of Jacob, also known as Israel, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham. It tells the story of the patriarch of the Israelite people.

Jacob is a twin. His life begins with a contest with his brother Esau when both struggle to get out of the womb first. The first one out claims the lion's share of the inheritance and power. Esau makes it first.

Esau is a hunter and a "man's man". Jacob is a thinker. Mom is partial to Jacob while dad prefers the elder. Jacob is adept at tricking his brother and becoming the focus of his anger. When he tricks his brother into selling his birthright for a bowl of beans, Jacob knows he will no longer be safe and leaves to reside among his mother's people.

Jacob is a trickster but he always remembers his God and is faithful. Everything he does is blessed and when others try to curse him, they find themselves cursed as well. Jacob falls in love and agrees to work for 7 years to obtain the object of his desire, only to find that he has been tricked into marrying the older sister. He works another 7 for the younger. Before it is over, he has 2 wives, 2 concubines and a host of children. He realizes that the time is coming when he must return home and confront his brother.

The drama in this one is not as high as it could have been but it does a good job of catching the basic biblical story. Jacob is not portrayed here as quite the trickster that the scriptures give but it is a worthy attempt. The others of this series are much better but this one is worth watching too.
April 3, 2007

Star studded, accurate to Bible, but underwhelming in delivery

The story of Jacob from the Bible is fairly faithfully retold in no-nonsense terms in this movie directed by Sir Peter Hall.
Matthew Modine plays Jacob, Sean Bean is his brother Esau whose inheritance and blessing he steals. He leaves to avoid his brother's wrath and to seek a wife from Laban. He ends up with more than he bargained for - two wifes and 14 years later, he returns home to face his brother.

Hall was better known for his theatre work - this makes for strong adherence to the source material, but not the most gripping cinematic experience. Having said that, the acting is fine, especially from the women. Lara Flynn Boyle makes an early appearance here as Rachel, Jacob's true love. The rest of the cast has some fine character actors such as Irene Papas and Joss Ackland as Rebekah and Isaac, and the prolific Giancarlo Giannini as Laban. The class extends to the music, written by Ennio Morricone. The central role of Jacob is thin however, Modine failing to exhibit the charisma, inner strength and spiritual life it must be assumed Jacob had.

Sensibly, periods we know little to nothing about are skipped, and the story focuses on the classic elements we know from the Bible. Moments which could be over the top such as wrestling with the angel and Jacob's Ladder, are told or shown in a down to earth way which is appropriate.

The fine acting, authentic feel and appropriate music all make this the best it could be, but cannot hide the fact that this is not the most cinematic story. If you have an interest in the Bible, you will get something out of this, if you are looking for an exciting or enthralling movie, maybe this is not your best starting place. Would have been 4 stars except for Matthew Modine's lack of conviction in the role. February 25, 2007

Very Well Done!

This entire series of Bible stories by this Italian production group is simply splendid. These are relatively low cost films but they are very skillfully produced to maximize the quality of the story being told. Of course we Christians and Jews will sit around and pontificate about every little error or short cut the movie script incurs, never the less, it is ultimately left to the actors and directors and their considerable skill to pull off what I consider to be, for the most part, some of the most successfully done Bible story dramatizations that have ever been produced on film, with or without a big budget. My favorite is the story of Abram, the movie Joseph coming in a close second along with the movie, Moses, coming in a close third or even equalling Joseph. All of the rest of these movies hoover in second or third place together as far as I'm concerned. Bravo bravo - Please make more! My five stars applies to this complete series of movies - Obviously some are done a little better than others, but the effort is exemplary. February 18, 2007

There should be (alot) more of this on television

This is one of a series of made for TV movies that were produced in the 1990s to recount various Biblical Old Testament tales. Don't let the `made for TV' aspect turn you off this, this movie (and series) is well done. This movie tells the Genesis story of the brothers Jacob and Esau. Esau is the older brother, but Jacob tricks him out of his dying father's blessing. At the encouragement of his mother, Jacob flees to his uncle's family and begins life anew there, starting from nothing. His hard work and faith in God are ultimately (after 14 years of servitude to his uncle) rewarded by God and he eventually has twelve sons of his own and is the head of a great family. The acting is superb, the cinematography great, and the production quality high. In fact, I would say that in many ways films of this series are superior to the blockbuster epics of the 50s and 60s such as Ben Hur. In particular, I think that the production team did a good job of making an entertaining story, but at the same time preserving the Biblical message behind the story. The message is more important than the film, not really the case in Ben Hur like epics with casts of thousands. In this case, the message is that God is always with you and has a plan for you, even though your life may have many ups and downs. Another thing that I liked about this film (and the series in general) is that the production team kept the story to it's Biblical, non-denominational minimum. There was little or no effort (at least that I could discern) at putting a denominational (either Christian or Jewish) spin. A terrific dramatization of the events and message of the Bible - highly recommended. November 5, 2006

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