I must confess that I am a retired Catholic with strong antipathy towards all organized religion. Having stated that, I can still recommend Risen as a well made and well intentioned film by director Kevin Reynolds. The cast is uniformly excellent, with the lead, Joseph Fiennes as a Roman soldier drawn into the political intrigue at Jesus'(Yeshua here), Crucifixion and resurrection. Peter Firth is Pilate, the ultimate politician and deal maker. He uses Clavius(Fiennes) to track down the body of Yeshua after he goes missing after the required three days. It is, of course, a familiar story to most of the world. Clavius leaves no stone unturned(pardon the pun) in his search for the messiah. He eventually tracks down the twelve disciples and through a series of mysterious events, is transformed into a new man. Separating my own skepticism from the artistic merit of Risen is easy. It is a beautifully shot cinematic experience without the overdone violence of Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ, an extremely unpleasant viewing experience. Kevin Reynolds kept it simple and straight forward without a preaching tone. Risen is worth your time.
