Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Leap of Faith Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 10, 2024

What is true faith? Is it faith in "someone" or Someone? That is the question central to Leap of Faith, a 1992 Comedy/Drama directed by Richard Pearce (No Mercy) about a fraudster who poses as a revivalist and faith healer who has found great success in separating people from their money through supposed works of Jesus happening through his mouth and hands. The film follows the elaborate scheme but also gazes into the true power of faith, a power that exists beyond the song and dance and pyrotechnics for a true "both sides of the coin" sort of, admittedly very imperfect, look at the natural, sinful nature of man and the holy and divine workings at work in the world today.

"Miracles and Wonders" is a traveling spiritual revival show spearheaded by the charismatic Jonas Nightengale (Steve Martin), a supposed faith healer and evangelist who travels from city to city preaching Jesus, blessing souls, bring health to the sick, hearing to the deaf, and giving hope to the hopeless. But it's all a sham. He is not a man of God. He is an entertainer, at best, and a con artist, at worst. And the con is a team effort that uses both simple systems of information gathering and cutting edge technology to feed Jonas necessary information to secure the trust of the people and, ultimately, bring in the cash. Nothing about it is genuine except for the genuine profits that roll in before the convoy rolls out to the next target city.

When one of the convoy trucks breaks down in drought-stricken Rustwater, Kansas -- hardly the convoy's final destination and so poor that it couldn't hardly be worth the revival's time -- Jonas decides to set up tent and put on a show. Time is money, after all, and if he and the team is going to be in Rustwater for a few days, anyway, why not pocket a few dollars for their troubles? Jonas and his team get the word out, quickly, and the people of Rustwater are all too happy to attend. The town is facing severe unemployment and severe drought. It's a town teetering on the brink of extinction. The people need hope, and Jonas is all too happy to give it to them: for a small donation, which happens to be just about every last cent the people have. Despite the persistent warnings of local sheriff Will Braverman (Liam Neeson), the town succumbs to Jonas' charm and the show's entertainment value. As wonders and miracles appear to be happening on stage, the money rolls, in, but can Jonas really call on the name of the Lord to bring true healing to a needy town and to its most despondent, destitute, downtrodden, and deteriorated denizens?

The film painstakingly affirms that everything about the revival is a sham, except the crowd’s response to it. Viewers are taken inside the computerized control room and are privy to the sleight of hand note passing that altogether helps to build the illusion of divine revelation. Sherriff Will knows what’s going on, and his heart is for the well-being of the people, from a legitimate perspective: they are poor and needy, and putting even $10 into the “Miracles and Wonders” coffers could very well be the difference between life and death. One of the film’s central narratives is the battle Will fights against Jonas, all the while following a blossoming romance between Will and one of Jonas’ key cohorts, Jane Larson (Debra Winger).

Jonas and his team are "greedy for gain" and he is certainly not "above reproach," hardly meeting the Bible's qualifications for an overseer. Nevertheless, Jonas' focus on revival is not winning souls to Christ but rather lining his pockets with cash, and Leap of Faith explores that dynamic between those who use the name of Jesus for personal gain and those who entrust what they have on the hope of a charismatic personality who is anything but "poor in spirit," "meek," or "gentle and lowly in heart." Jonas never met a miracle he could not manipulate into some semblance of reality or a person whose desperation did not blind their eyes to his shenanigans. But his time in Rustwater might just open his eyes to a greater truth.

Steve Martin is very good as Jonas, playing up the persona of a preacher who is more of a huckster than he is sincere man of faith, a man chasing after personal gain rather than giving his heart in service to others. Martin plays Jonas with the "best" of TV faith healers in mind, capturing both the verbal cadences and physical characteristics that are meant to sell a product meant to satisfy in the moment and distract from truth rather than lead people to legitimate, eternal healing. The film takes a few interesting turns in the final act, moving away from the dynamics of the ploy and beginning to offer a good, hard, long look at, maybe, in some form or fashion, a truer faith and higher power beyond Jonas' supposed power of healing and revelation.

Leap of Faith Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Leap of Faith arrives on Blu-ray with a passably solid 1080p transfer. The image is no great shakes, certainly, lagging behind and usually just barely scraping by as "good." It's not noise reduced to an extreme, but the image is clearly lacking that thriving filmic and faithful excellence that this format is capable of producing. It's in need – maybe not in dire or desperate need, but nevertheless in need – of a proper remaster. Details are fine but ultimately fairly underwhelming, whether faces, clothes, or the downtrodden details around Rustwater. Colors lack serious boldness but offer decent enough foundational accuracy. Black levels waver between mild crush and mild paleness. White balance is but OK, and the same can be said of skin tones. A few pops and speckles are in play, and the transfer shows some sporadic signs of mild edge enhancement, too This is clearly an older master. The film looks decent enough, but it is far from the ideal.

Leap of Faith Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Paramount releases Leap of Faith to Blu-ray with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The presentation offers some good, basic directional effects, including some cues of rumbling trucks and busses rushing by in the opening moments, but such are fairly few and far between, a shame when things get rowdy under the revival tent later in the film. In these critical and would-be sonically engaging scenes, there is some mild surround work, but boy oh boy is the track ever flat and dull in the aggregate. Listen around the 31-minute mark when Jonas first arrives on stage. The music, the crowd, the whole thing is just very bland and sonically boring when it should be springing to life and dropping the listener in the midst of the mayhem. Sadly, such holds for the duration. Most everything is hushed at reference volume. It's not at all aggressive. Dialogue is clear enough but very shallow and lacking in convincing realism.

Leap of Faith Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Leap of Faith includes no supplemental content. The main menu screen offers a static image with no accompanying audio and only options for "Play Movie" and to toggle subtitles on and off. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

Leap of Faith Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It doesn't take a leap of faith to get into Leap of Faith. It's a solid movie with an underlying depth to it that is at once both critical of the sort of conniving side of religion while also looking more deeply at faith itself. Steve Martin is wonderful in the lead because, well, he's Steve Martin and the role is tailor-made for his talents. A terrific supporting cast rounds out a good little film. Paramount's Blu-ray is unfortunately featureless with decent, but at times dubious, video and audio. Hopefully the film receives a remastered UHD release somewhere down the line. Until then, warts and all, this is the best the film has ever been presented for home video, so fans should not hesitate to buy.