The ReapingOver-serious eye candy  April 11,
2007 5:48:49 PM
ON CLOSER LOOK: There is nothing truly frightening about this silly thriller.
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This preposterous thriller from Stephen Hopkins stars Hilary Swank as a lapsed Christian missionary who specializes in scientific explanations for seemingly supernatural religious phenomena. When 10 Biblical plagues (CGI locusts, lice, etc.) descend on a small Louisiana town, she’s summoned to figure out how a barefoot pubescent girl (AnnaSophia Robb) might be connected. Mixing CSI talk with a lot of evangelical mumbo-jumbo, this over-serious eye candy keeps you on the edge of your seat but never freaks you out. Blame the lack of anything truly frightening — is anyone (other than the FDA) disturbed by dead cows, a lazy river of blood, and maggots on barbecued fish? Swank, clad in a rainbow of flattering tanktops, passes as a wounded workaholic grappling with her own demons, but her crisis of belief never materializes.
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