The Book of Eli, Denzel Washington in a Completely Different Role

Based approximately 30 years in the future, The Book of Eli envisions a world destroyed by a holy war. As a result, humans rid the world of all evidence of God, including each of the holy books. Only one is left in the possession of an anointed guardian played by Denzel Washington. That book is called The Book of Eli and Carnegie (Gary Oldman), the leader of a small surviving community, is desperately looking for it. His goal: to use the holy words to manipulate his followers. Eli must pass through the evil man’s territory in his journey to the west coast, a task he was assigned to by God, at least so he says.

In The Book of Eli, the Hughes brothers manage to mix the practical with the spiritual to make the film puzzling and yet strangely challenging. There’s a clever combination of gritty apocalypse and hope for a bright future in the film, but more: the sense that something great must be involved.

A simple plot, great story and Denzel Washington make The Book of Eli an exceptional film and Washington creates a character that is so engaging and intense that he becomes ultimately believable in an unbelievable role. This is easily my favorite of his movies.

Gary Oldman, as the nihilistic Carnegie, manages too to create a good character and a believable villain opposite Washington, but he seems unsupported in his efforts. Carnegie’s minions are just plain lame. One surprise though is Mila Kunis as Solara, the daughter of Carnegie’s woman. Kunis is sterling; the simple girl assigned to seduce and betray the carrier of the book. Unable to seduce Eli she becomes intrigued by his simple faith and determination, believing in him to the point of death. There are some nice parallels to scripture that add a subtle, if hard to catch, depth to the film.

The Book of Eli is gritty, bleak and disturbingly real and, with the exception of some very weak characters, a quite good movie. I enjoyed the film and I thoroughly enjoyed Washington’s performance. I recommend the film for the action, the story and the acting. Compared to films like The Road Warrior, The Boy and His Dog and The Postman, The Book of Eli manages to be more and less. More real, more serious and yet, strangely less entertaining. Still, I suggest seeing the film if only for Washington’s performance.

Rating 3 stars out of 5.