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TWO WEEKS

"Facing Death Without Salvation"

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What You Need To Know:

TWO WEEKS is a heart-rending in-depth look at the last two weeks of an unsaved cancer patient’s life. Sally Field does a superb job of playing Anita Bergman going through the final horrors of cancer. Her children gather from across the country to spend time with their mother in her final days. The children are quite different and have some serious clashes, but the two-week experience draws them together.

TWO WEEKS is marred by the fact that every member of the Bergman family has a foul mouth. The movie is not going to be a blockbuster because it’s not very entertaining to watch someone die of cancer, complete with vomiting and gradually going comotose. The acting and all production aspects are excellent, but as a Christian you wish the characters knew God. The daughter finds comfort in secular books on how to deal with death. One son finds relief by smoking marijuana. The spiritual emptiness in this movie should make Christians want to reach out more to their unsaved neighbors. Unlike some trashy horror show worthy of a strong rebuke, this movie appears sincere even while it comes up empty.

Content:

(PaPa, LLL, A, DD, M) Strong pagan worldview of the last days of a dying woman’s life; 30 obscenities and three profanities; no violence, sex or nudity; moderate alcohol use, smoking, marijuana use, massive prescribed use of morphine on dying patient, and jokes about taking leftover morphine; and, anger, family squabbles, forgery, and some scenes of what it’s like to have advanced cancer may be unsettling to some viewers.

More Detail:

TWO WEEKS is a heart-rending movie to watch because it’s an in-depth look at the last two weeks of an unsaved cancer patient’s life and no one in the family has the faintest thought of eternal life. Sally Field does a superb job of playing Anita Bergman going through the final horrors of cancer. Her children gather from across the country to spend time with their mother in her final days. The children are quite different and have some serious clashes but the two-week experience draws them together.

Some reviewers may be content seeing the family come together because of this shared tragic experience, but from a Christian perspective it is chilling to watch someone face death without the hope of eternal life. One of the sons makes a video of his mother answering questions and sharing thoughts about her life. This video is interspersed with the story as it unfolds over the two weeks. At one point, Anita implies she has not been a “bad” person, at least not too bad. While not openly discussed, the implication was that a life being “good” or “bad” somehow matters after death. Anita’s daughter Emily (Julianne Nicholson) does at one point call a Rabbi to come see her mother, when she was already in a comatose state. The children laugh when the Rabbi, a former military chaplain, prays for their mother’s healing.

Eternal life is not earned through good works. While our works and our words in this life are judged, our salvation is based on our acceptance of the grace of God provided when Jesus paid the price for our sin. Christians look forward to a better life beyond this one.

TWO WEEKS is marred by the fact that every member of the Bergman family has a foul mouth. The “f” word is thrown about repeatedly. In one excellent scene, a father leaves his brothers and sister with a parting foul word. His toddler daughter hears it and asks him what it means. He lies and says it means, “Goodbye.” To his dismay his daughter uses the new word as she leaves him to board a jet home. Everyone in the airport is shocked except the daughter, who still thinks the word is innocent.

TWO WEEKS is not going to be a blockbuster. It is just not very entertaining to watch someone die of cancer, complete with vomiting and gradually going comatose. Some people will be impressed by the quality of the movie. The acting and all production aspects are excellent.

As a Christian, it makes you wish these characters knew God. The daughter finds comfort in secular books on how to deal with death. One son finds relief by smoking marijuana. Another struggles with just spending time away from his workaholic lifestyle. The spiritual emptiness in this movie should make Christians want to reach out more to their unsaved neighbors.

Unlike some trashy horror show worthy of a strong rebuke, this movie appears sincere even while it comes up empty. Perhaps someone will make a movie one day of a truly Christian family dealing with a similar difficult time. The world would benefit from seeing the difference.