Chicagoland

Marriage tale misses the mark

By Sister Helena Burns, FSP | Contributor
Sunday, February 28, 2010

A new Christian movie about marriage titled “No Greater Love” is a disappointment.

At the beginning of “No Greater Love,” husband Jeff (Anthony Tyler Quinn) and wife Heather (Danielle Bisutti) fight over Jeff’s stubborn dedication to work, which often takes him away from home. Heather descends into a spiral of substance abuse and disappears, leaving Jeff with their young son, Ethan.

The story logic and emotional timbre unravel from there and the whole movie screams ideology — that horrible kind of religious ideology that denies the truly human (and therefore truly godly).

When Jeff and Heather finally meet again, Heather has become a Christian. She is oddly detached from wanting to see her son, and when she is reunited with him, she is more than willing to abandon him again if it’s “God’s will” that she move to another state.

Strangest of all is how marriage is viewed. Even though Jeff and Heather were not married as Christians, marriage is a natural institution, and hardly anything is said of its essence. The only thing that determines if Jeff and Heather are actually married is the question of whether or not Jeff signed the divorce papers.

Even though this is technically correct for a non-Christian/ non-sacramental marriage, it is all cold and clinical (as well as requiring that the audience have some knowledge about the institution of marriage). Later, when Heather’s pastor and his wife urge her to stay with Jeff, it seems mainly to influence him and hopefully make him a Christian.

“No Greater Love” leans toward fundamentalism by taking “literally” the passage from Ephesians 5: “Wives obey your husbands.” This one line is frequently excerpted from the whole passage that includes the line, “Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church.”

Also, the mutuality of love and marriage is missed: “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Eph 5:21). Heather begins “obeying” Jeff in all matters, asking him what he wants her to do in every little situation. This, appropriately, drives Jeff nuts until the pastor explains she is acting out this Scripture passage. Heather’s whole demeanor now is that of a demure, shrinking violet.

“No Greater Love” could be dismissed as an unfortunate attempt to make a movie in support of fidelity in marriage, but two well-known Catholic media companies have been promoting this film as a wonderful story on marriage. We need to be sure that in our enthusiasm for promoting Christian values, we don’t compromise on quality and the fullness of truth. The end doesn’t justify the means.

The USCCB film office has not yet rated this movie.

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