Gawd, what splendid photography. Spacious, craggy. and sunswept Central Mexico where the Cristados fought for the freedom to practice their religion in the late 1920. It's the kind of place you'd like to retire to in order to avoid the humidity of Miami Beach, the urban sprawl of Southern California, and the increasing congestion of Arizona. It's so easy to visualize the reward after a lifetime of hard work. Oh, Camarero -- another margarita, por favor? It's so picture-postcard pretty that the epic scenery almost overwhelms the tense and action-filled story of the last phase of all those Mexican revolutions of one hundred years ago.Ruben Blades is President Calles, who passed a series of laws that looked very much like an attempt to secularize Mexico and eliminate Catholicism. The reasons can only be guessed at. The church was a powerful moral and political force. Maybe Calles thought it was a little too powerful. The church also owned an awful lot of land and other valuables.In any case Blades gives an innovative and thoughtful performance as a leader who could easily have been shown as no more than another one of those evil swarthy people with shiny big teeth and greasy locks.His performance is matched by almost everyone else in the cast, perhaps with the exception of Oscar Isaac who, like most of the other principals, is of Hispanic origin but who struck me as an American guy struggling with a Spanish accent. As the first priest to be executed by firing squad, the ancient Peter O'Toole delivers the thoroughly believable goods. The ostensible hero is Andy Garcia as the historically real General Enrique Gorostieta, an atheist who was hired to lead the revolt. Garcia is no longer a sleek handsome youth but age has made him more impressive. And, in fact, Gorostieta WAS hired to organize the resistance, and he demanded a good sum as well as insurance for his family.That's one of the film's more admirable points -- the way there are these little inserts of coarse history. Calles, the "bad guy", offers peace terms that seem reasonable, but Gorostieta is too proud to accept them. The revolt was finally settled after Gorostieta's death, essentially based on the same agreement he'd rejected, with the intervention of the United States ambassador, who was Charles Lindbergh's father-in-law. As part of the agreement, the US provided the Mexican government with machine guns and Mexico in turn agreed to protect American oil interests. See? Nothing is altogether cut and dried, and you have to respect a movie that takes on the challenge of displaying ambiguity in its characters.Not that there's ever much doubt in the mind of the ordinary viewer about which side is good and which is bad. The movie may be complicated but human judgments aren't. So freedom of religion is "good" while the suppression of freedom is "bad." The story illustrates the point that sometimes religion is worth killing and dying for. I wonder how the film would have turned out if the religion had been an Islamic sect.The director doesn't match the majestic scenery, the perceptive performances, the credible art direction, and the skillful make up and wardrobe. John Ford shot the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in long shot. No such restraint here. The director does his best to push all the thoroughly commercialized emotional buttons. When O'Toole is bulletized, the camera cuts to a closeup of his agonized face, his features cut off in mid prayer. When a young boy is murdered we here the thud of the knife hilt against his back and there is a close up of his agonized face. The camera lingers on him as he falls to the ground before the coup de gras. Important deaths are in slow motion, sometimes VERY slow motion.It almost seems as if the screenplay and the direction are at odds with one another -- the screenplay yearning for a combination of action and character, along the lines of "Lawrence of Arabia," while the direction aims for a simple and successful movie about good guerrillas fighting tyranny,.

There's no doubt that the subject matter of "For Greater Glory: The True Story of Cristiada" - the Cristeros War of Mexico in the late 1920s - could make for an interesting and even entertaining movie. But to tell the truth, I felt kind of unsatisfied at the end. One of the most expensive Mexican movies made (though low budget by Hollywood standards), I will say that the movie (for the most part) looks pretty good. But the movie is saddled with a substandard script. The movie is both too long and not long enough. It unfolds at a pretty slow pace, and there are a number of scenes that could have been eliminated. But at the same time, it doesn't go into detail enough on a number of important points. The motivations of the characters are more often than not vague, and there are a number of unanswered questions for those unfamiliar with this part of Mexican history. While I wouldn't call this movie terrible, it is unsatisfying. Though on a positive note, it will probably get you to do some research about this conflict.

You can tell that a lot of the people involved in "For Greater Glory" really believed in what they were doing but unfortunately that doesn't cancel out the film's glaring weaknesses. FGG tries to tell too many stories at once and as a result, the entire production seems to meander endlessly without getting to any point. There are, by my count, five major sub-plots in FGG besides the central story of General Gorostieta (Garcia's character). Even at 144 minutes, the movie just doesn't have enough time to deal with all of this material and in trying to do so, it bogs down and doesn't even tell Gorostieta's story all that well. To me, the big change of heart the General had at the end seemed to come out of nowhere.Also not helpful, given that it's a war movie, is that the numerous action scenes are not well paced. Another minor prob was that Eve Longoria was not believable at all as Gorostieta's pious Christian wifey. Yet another weakness was the relationship between Peter O'Toole (as an old priest) and Mauricio Kuri (as a cute, little altar boy). In this day and age seeing a Catholic priest kissing and stroking the brow of an altar boy is freaky to say the least. Unless you're a very devout Catholic, the scenes between them are probably going to creep you out. People of a saltier temperament may laugh at loud...On the plus side, the cinematography is often beautiful. Andy Garcia gives a good performance and has enough screen time to make seeing FGG worthwhile for his fans.

What strikes me most about Dean Wright's directorial debut are the ever present contradictions. 'For greater glory' naturally brings to mind brave warriors, glorified figures of history and that certain aura achieved through cinematic means. Surely, one would expect those characters to be so noble, so brave, so unique whose more earthly cry "FREEDOM" brings our tensed emotions to climactic crescendo. However, the assumption proves wrong as the characters offer us a more profound cry of their cause filled with piety and evangelical radicalism: "Long live Christ the King!" Is it the ideal that humans are ready to live for, fight for and die for? Perhaps in the first century persecutions but in the 20th century after the death of God had been acclaimed? Isn't that a historical irony but also a historic moment when we view this film based on THE CRISTERO REBELLION by a historian Jean Meyer? While considering reviews, one could draw an intriguing conclusion: film scholars seem to like its artistic aspects, its scale of undertaking but never make any particular indication of their straightforward enthusiasm towards its explicit religious references. Among highly positive remarks, Stephen Holden of the New York Times regards the film's grandeur as "impressively spacious" comparing this Mexican production to Hollywood's greatest epics; Phil Boatwright refers to the film as "homage to religious freedom." And yet, film scholars also appear to be in contradictions to one another. Among less positive reviews, Roger Ebert criticizes the movie as having too strong "pro-Catholic tunnel vision;" and Lauren Markoe of Religion News Service observes its "battle to preserve religious freedom." Yet, Steven D. Greydanus, addressing various aspects, especially its theme "far too little known" calls CRISTIADA "the right movie at the right time." Is it reasonable, though, to be politically incorrect and let oneself follow the footsteps of 'straightforward' enthusiasts? Along with its solid production, great cinematography, overwhelming shots in Mexico's beauties, including Tlaxcala, Puebla and haunting score by James Horner hailed by Stephen Holden as "uplifting without being syrupy," Dean Wright's film is a truly epic scale production. But what may strike a more subtle viewer most is its explicit profoundity. I allow myself for that contradictory phrase because it seems to resemble the core idea of the director's point. This strength lies in its characters. CRISTIADA manages to capture spirituality within the very concrete medium that cinema is, reflects Christian motifs and displays them explicitly in order to affect diverse audiences.Actually, this very point is best resembled in the opening words...somewhere in between 'poles apart' lies human heart which is marked by various ideas being at war within the walls of its perceptions. Skipping the entire political context of the time, the masonic policies, McGivney's Knights of Columbus, Mexico's relations with the USA (though memorably personified by Ambassador Dwight Morrow) and Mexico's president, the Nero-like "anti-Christ" Plutarco Elias Calles (played by Ruben Blades... perhaps the only character who is not allowed for any complex, implicit portrayal of human being - he is simply bound to be evil), the characters face unbelievable tribulations. Christians, as a matter of fact, no less the victims, the scapegoats of the story than in supreme epics like QUO VADIS, are the peacemakers and yet, they are depicted by means of great contradiction between two priests whose ideas stand in utter contrast: Father Christopher (Peter O'Toole) and Father Vega (Santiago Cabrera). While the former one, the figure of "kindness and heroic virtue" (Greydanus) played magnificently by Peter O'Toole with his characteristic charm and effective psychological input does not believe in war and indefatigably follows his Lord, the Prince of Peace, the latter one, pope Julius II's figure alike, resorts to fighting. Out of necessity or with slight fanciness? Something intriguing for a debate...Those two priests surely have followers, their brothers in soul who instill totally different understanding of a victory blessed Anacleto Gonzalez Flores (Eduardo Verastegui) who clearly echoes Father Christopher with his peaceful resistance (here, a mention must be made of female characters committed to the cause and represented best by Adriana); Victoriano Ramirez (Oscar Isaacs) nicknamed "El Catorce" - "the 14" with whom one must win respect of toughness, readiness to kill all the enemies among the Federales. Is there anything that may unite them? Within the suffering of hearts, torments and quests, there is a piece of white bread lifted up by the priest, bread which becomes the Body and Blood of Christ, the source of relief and strength for the journey of faith.The incarnation of torments is General Enrique Gorostieta played by Andy Garcia, practically the leading character among the adults. Most viewers will probably identify with him because his storyline is that of a real journey: from a skeptical veteran of two wars, sick and tired of living memories as "general-turned-businessman" (Greydanus), a soap manufacturer, he is ready for a challenge and undergoes development. Can he rise for greater glory? Can he, as an atheist, transcend into a believer in a cry "Long live Christ the King!" In all this, he is a believer of something timeless - freedom. And that is what he fights for with honor and dignity. His journey towards faith is filled with horns of doubt especially when one boy's innocent death leads him to dark storms of soul.The boy character inspires him, leaves us in reflective awe, touches the hearts of the brave, surprises the learned, ridicules idols, brings to shame materialists with his youthful enthusiasm and pure love - Jose - one of such characters who TRULY make those films authentic and brings genuine tears. He could have been a devoted altar boy, yet, destiny led him elsewhere...to being a martyr and bravely go home. If there is any victory, it belongs to those relatively unknown heroes whose crown is the cross engraved deeply in land with their innocent blood.I wish you profound experience