A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Steve Martin is Jonas Nightingale, a fraudulent faith healer with an entourage and several coaches, where he travels across America to different places where he sets up tent meetings to fleece the locals of their funds. One coach breaks down, stranding them in a small town, and Jonas decides to set up his act there while waiting for the coach to be repaired. He does so, attracts a large crowd, and arouses the suspicion of the local sheriff, who investigates.A number of problems occur with the movie, though. The locals are all too willing to be taken in by Jonas, the operation is overly sophisticated with computers and everything, Jonas readily admits to the suspicious sheriff that he is only a fraud, but worst of all, Steve Martin just doesn't fit the role of a highly charismatic con man.Some reviewers were upset by the "Hollywood ending", and said it would be have been better if Jonas had sickened of crime. I find the "Hollywood ending" more credible, as most criminals, especially when riding high, do not voluntarily give up their life of crime, and those who do find a cause to push them to give it up. What more appropriate way than what happens in the movie?

There are a lot of people who miss the point of this movie, including one person who says there is no protagonist in the movie. There is one.... Christ. Everyone in the movie is not in good shape. A town that has high unemployment and crops dying due to a lack of rain, a boy who cannot walk named Boyd (Lukas Haas), the Town Sheriff Will Braverman (Liam Nesson), who is losing his faith, and of course, Evangelist/con artist Jonas Nightengale (Steve Martin) and his assistant Jane Larson (Debra Winger), who are both heading down a bad road. What Christ does (spoilers ahead) is where Boyd gets healed, and everyone (except Will) believes it was Jonas, but he knows that it was not him, but a much higher power, and he leaves the town behind, and on a trailer the driver asks him "Are you in trouble?' and Jonas replies: "No for the first time in a long time, I am not." Then rain finally comes to the town (the scene with the animals and crops really works well), and Jane & Will (who are now a couple) go up to Jonas's room, and find the letter he left for her along with a ring she always wanted. Basically Christ had a plan for Jonas, and although he was tempted by money (and lost Jane in the process), in the end, he did the right thing and saved himself in the process. Martin really puts on a great show in the tent with his "Fire & Brimstone" Sermons, but the most interesting scenes are Winger's. The scene where she puts on the ring, and the two butterfly scenes with Will work best. She only met him three days and you could tell it was going to become a lifetime. Excellent performances by Martin and especially Winger. 10/10 Stars

This was almost a good movie. It started out as a very honest portrayal of the hucksterism and con jobs that all religion relies on, only to fall victim to schmalz and a fairy tale ending that destroyed all of the footwork leading up to it. This could have been an important movie on par with "Elmer Gantry" if the writers and director had just resisted the urge to sabotage their own work. Steve Martin played the huckster role with genius and Debra Winger appears in far too few movies, but in reality, hucksters of this caliber never reform, if that's the right word, until scandal brings them down, and people DO get disgusted with fleecing the innocent withOUT having to believe in mythical beings. Too bad.This movie could have had some meaning if they had just stuck to real world.

Can't believe that I've never watched this movie before. It's such a great one, and I even never heart of it before. Really worthy your 1.5 hour watching it.It's quite different from other works Martin's ever done. It's a great story, with great music, good casting, - maybe not so famous except Martin, good ending. The worst part, I think, is not enough AD :) Well it could be better, but it's not what a audience like me will point out. Like I said, it worths at least your 1.5 hours.I think it's kind of like the movie, 'the dead poet's society', but in quite different approach.