Keena Jan G.

Cayetano

12- ABM 5

The film LEAP OF FAITH deals with a con-man evangelist, Jonas (Steve Martin), who uses his skills of
observation and technology to manipulate the emotions of others. His assistant, Jane, and his crew find
out about audience members in order to deceive them. His adversary, Sheriff Braverman of Rustwater,
Kansas, discovers that Jonas is a con and wants to get rid of him. However, the situation changes
dramatically when real miracles takes place in the form of the healing of a crippled boy and a drought-
ending rain.

The film is well crafted, and the acting is credible. Some Christians may be offended by the premise of a
con man using preaching as a con game. LEAP OF FAITH shows how technology can be used to
manipulate people’s belief and to profit the unscrupulous. However, it also shows how even those that
deal in tricks cannot explain the true miracles of faith which point unequivocally to the sovereignty of
God. In fact, the film rebukes those who try to use or manipulate God, while it lifts up Jesus Christ as the
Great Physician and Creator God. At film’s end, a host of Monarch butterflies reminds us that Jesus
creates new creatures even as Jane decides to become a new person. The Angels of Mercy Gospel Choir,
directed by Edwin Hawkins, provides a strong musical backdrop for the movie. Overall, LEAP OF FAITH
has a good message, marred only slightly by worldly language.