Steve Martin, temporarily taking a break from his syrupy family-friendly rut, portrays a phony faith healer named Jonas Nightengale (!) who finds himself and his theatrical troupe stranded in a rural town. Martin takes some chances here as an actor, but this puzzling drama-lite can't make up its mind how cynical or comedic its ingredients should be. Debra Winger is underused as Jonas' cohort, though her relationship with handsome hick Liam Neeson proves more interesting than the main narrative. Screenwriter Janus Cercone and director Richard Pearce continually resort to the obvious, like making most of small town America look like gullible fools. This troubled production has a few sweetly-staged, low-keyed scenes but it seems to lose confidence in itself early on, becoming soft and flabby. *1/2 from ****
Review of Leap of Faith
