The Lazarus Papers (2010)

Touches You

Gripping story with well-crafted characters

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

The movies is very difficult to tolerate in the first 30 minutes but I am the persevering type. I watched it entirely. After the initial 30 minutes, it gets interesting. It is about a guy, the Chaman (Trejo) who cannot die but had enough of this world. He wants to die. Another one wants to die happy. Also, having nothing to loose makes him free and quite spiritual. It is also about how love can act as a redemption. How a single day of love can validate a whole lifetime and let you die happy. I wont say more, I need to let room for enjoyment. Very interesting. It is not a blockbuster high budget production. The scenario is more of the kind of intellectual, meaning-oriented movie we would expect more from the Scandinavians or the Germans. It is a bit hard to follow and I am not sure I understand everything in the movie.However, I agree with those users who feel deceived by the box cover. The synopsis is fair but the cover is unrepresentative. It is not a war movie. It is a "higher plane" movie.

Never judge a book by it's cover, right? Well, the same goes (in this case at least triple) for DVDs. The cover is deception in it's purest form. It lead me to believe I had just bought some straight-to-DVD action flick with Danny Trejo and Gary Daniels doing some, well, action stuff. Nothing could be further from the truth.The movie is terrible! But then again I'm not the right audience. Some art-house fans would maybe see some value where I couldn't. I just kept thinking how weird (WEIRD!!), confusing and boring this movie is.What gave me the (absurd) idea that it might be an action flick? Oh, I don't know! Maybe some things on the cover like helicopters (as someone already pointed out: Did. Not. Appear. In. One. Single. Scene!), soldiers, , Danny Trejo made to look like he's holding an assault rifle? Damn those marketing people for what they did. Absolutely outrageous!What happens now? IMDb users will continue to rip the movie to shreds and who can blame them? That's what you get for tricking the wrong community into buying your product. As an old Gary Daniels fan it pains me to see him doing a good job in such a painfully bad production. Now I'm actually afraid to watch 'Forced to Fight'...

After the first part of this movie, I wanted to turn it off due to its dark depressing matter. However, the movie takes you into a very dark place in order to set the stage for the redemption that the female lead makes at the end.I won't deny that this movie is flawed at nearly every level, its cinematography being the one redeeming value, but the lead actress does grow on you and at the end of the movie you feel as though you have been on a journey with her. A little more than half-way through the movie you begin to see that the tone is moving from the darkness into a story of redemption and a lesson that love conquers fear. The movie was courageous in that it took you deeper into despair in the beginning and held you there longer than most movies will dare, and I admit I turned it off in the middle and came back to finish it the next day. The end leaves you feeling good, providing you don't feel like you wasted your time watching it, which I don't.So if you like movies with a heart-felt message that love is the path to healing, and you haven't got anything better to do, this movie will suffice. If you don't care about that subject matter, and you want to critique the movie based on its writing, directing, editing and acting, I would say pass it up.I am interested to see how this writer/director does on his next film, which is currently in pre-production according to IMDb.

Wow, another drive you crazy DVD rental that wants you to pick up in the video stores and cheat you to waste several $s and a section of your lifetime that you could never get back. The screenplay is so stupid and ridiculous. The Latino actor who played in the "Machete" has become so popular and he's so smart to cash in while he's still hot or lukewarm. This time, he played a tribal magician who could heal the blind and could see his massacred tribal people.... Give me a break.I simply couldn't find any excuse to watch along after 20 minutes. The scenario is so stupid and the acting...!? The reason why I still want to write a review is because I consider myself a good Samaritan, I don't want you to waste your hard earned money to waste on this pathetic movie.