'Luther' film is a by-the-book depiction

By Gary Dowell
The Dallas Morning News

•	LUTHER Grade: C+ Starring Joseph Fiennes, Alfred Molina, Peter Ustinov, Bruno Ganz. Directed by Eric Till. Rated PG-13 (Mild language, violence). In wide release. 112 min.

Joseph Fiennes plays Martin Luther, the young, idealistic monk whose intellect and outrage sparked the Reformation that brought centuries of uncontested Catholic authority in Europe grinding to a halt more or less by simply nailing his famous 95 Theses to the door of a German church in 1517.

The first half of the film moves smoothly enough, delving into Luther's spiritual conflicts, ambitions and, as a theology professor, delivering fiery lectures against the accepted use of religious relics and sale of indulgences (documents that provided heavenly forgiveness in exchange for a nominal cash fee). It's during this period that Luther is taken under the wing of Prince Friedrich the Wise (Peter Ustinov) while earning the enmity of the church and Emperor Charles V (Torben Liebrecht).

"Luther," like so many other bio-pics, suffers mainly from trying to cram too much detail into a two-hour movie, yet in a sense there's not enough. The movie rarely, if ever, strays from a canonical, by-the-book depiction of the man. There's very little here most of us don't already know, and what should be an engaging story instead feels pedestrian and unfocused.

The performances are fine enough, but director Eric Till occasionally makes questionable storytelling choices, the kind that evoke eye rolling, especially during the second half. The mute, crippled child he uses throughout the movie is a particularly blatant bit of audience manipulation, and his ersatz treatment of Luther's romance with Katherine Von Bora (Claire Cox) plays more like a footnote.

It's as if Till were fighting movie-making demons of his own — namely condescension and melodrama — and lost a couple of rounds.