When I found the book at a garage sale, I bought it just so I could see how badly it was adapted when this movie was made. Much to my surprise, I found that the movie was quite faithful to the book. More's the pity...
Steve Randall (David Janssen) is a man who is having a crisis in faith concurrent with his midlife crisis. He is a successful public relations man, but he is estranged from his wife, Barbara (Janice Rule), and daughter, Judy (Alexa Kenin). He also doesn't seem to have the same faith in God that his father (John Huston) and mother (Martha Scott) possess. He is offered a job by Ogden Towery (Eddie Albert) to help publicize the discovery a new gospel by James the Just, brother of Jesus. Through relationships with cynical Tony Nicholson (Kate Mulgrew), and Naomi Dunn (Geraldine Chaplin), who claims to keep body and soul separate, and eventually the stunning Angela Monti (Florinda Bolkan), Randall discovers that not all concerning James the Just is what it seems. However, as he gets close to the truth, he is discredited, fired from the project, and deported back to the United States. However, what he knows could prove very threatening to Towery, and also problematic for Angela. With no faith to guide him, how will he decide to handle this new crisis in his life.
If it sounds like it doesn't make much sense, that's because it didn't. You really don't get enough information about who's involved, what their motives might be, or even who James the Just is to make any kind of conclusion. In the end, the whole thing comes off as a massive conspiracy theory. And Naomi Dunn's character was particularly badly done, coming off as humorous rather than mysterious. When she told Randall that she kept her body and soul separate, I immediately began to laugh rather than being shocked as was the intention. Likewise when he later asked her if she was still keeping body and soul separate, I also found it humorous, but out of place.
The acting was okay, with little that was special in any of the performances. Actually, I really had to question the casting, especially that of David Janssen, who was rather hard to buy as a sex symbol at that point, and who also didn't really portray Randall's charisma or intelligence. Eddie Albert did a surprisingly good job of being malicious. And I'll give Geraldine Chaplin points for her humorous portrayal, although I suspect the humor was unintentional.
All in all, a silly mess. But to this day, I still laugh over the idea of keeping body and soul separate...
Steve Randall (David Janssen) is a man who is having a crisis in faith concurrent with his midlife crisis. He is a successful public relations man, but he is estranged from his wife, Barbara (Janice Rule), and daughter, Judy (Alexa Kenin). He also doesn't seem to have the same faith in God that his father (John Huston) and mother (Martha Scott) possess. He is offered a job by Ogden Towery (Eddie Albert) to help publicize the discovery a new gospel by James the Just, brother of Jesus. Through relationships with cynical Tony Nicholson (Kate Mulgrew), and Naomi Dunn (Geraldine Chaplin), who claims to keep body and soul separate, and eventually the stunning Angela Monti (Florinda Bolkan), Randall discovers that not all concerning James the Just is what it seems. However, as he gets close to the truth, he is discredited, fired from the project, and deported back to the United States. However, what he knows could prove very threatening to Towery, and also problematic for Angela. With no faith to guide him, how will he decide to handle this new crisis in his life.
If it sounds like it doesn't make much sense, that's because it didn't. You really don't get enough information about who's involved, what their motives might be, or even who James the Just is to make any kind of conclusion. In the end, the whole thing comes off as a massive conspiracy theory. And Naomi Dunn's character was particularly badly done, coming off as humorous rather than mysterious. When she told Randall that she kept her body and soul separate, I immediately began to laugh rather than being shocked as was the intention. Likewise when he later asked her if she was still keeping body and soul separate, I also found it humorous, but out of place.
The acting was okay, with little that was special in any of the performances. Actually, I really had to question the casting, especially that of David Janssen, who was rather hard to buy as a sex symbol at that point, and who also didn't really portray Randall's charisma or intelligence. Eddie Albert did a surprisingly good job of being malicious. And I'll give Geraldine Chaplin points for her humorous portrayal, although I suspect the humor was unintentional.
All in all, a silly mess. But to this day, I still laugh over the idea of keeping body and soul separate...