Mel Gibson looks right for movie on Jesus

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Filmmaker Mel Gibson, whose upcoming movie on the last 12 hours in the life of Jesus has drawn charges of anti-Semitism from Jewish and Catholic scholars, is shopping his film to a more receptive audience: evangelical Christians, conservative Catholics and Orthodox Jews.

On June 26, he surprised a group of 900 evangelical pastors meeting at the 9,200-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs with a four-minute trailer from "The Passion."

That afternoon he also showed the entire film to about 30 Christian leaders at Focus on the Family, one of the nation's largest evangelical ministries.

The latter showing was a high-security arrangement, complete with nondisclosure agreements signed by the participants, says Rob Brendle, the associate pastor at New Life.

Mr. Brendle calls the film "very positive" and says "we are confident the film is true to the Scriptures," a reference to charges by Jewish groups that Mr. Gibson, 47, has included extrabiblical and anti-Semitic elements in the two-hour film.

Paul Lauer, director of marketing for the film, says various religious leaders have been quietly making their way to Los Angeles in recent weeks to view "The Passion." One fan is Bishop Charles J. Chaput of the Catholic Archdiocese of Denver, who defended the movie in the Denver Catholic Register.

"I find it puzzling and disturbing that anyone would feel licensed to attack a film of sincere faith before it has even been released," the archbishop wrote.

"When the overtly provocative 'The Last Temptation of Christ' was released 15 years ago, movie critics piously lectured Catholics to be open-minded and tolerant. Surely that advice should apply equally for everyone," he said.

Scheduled for release next spring, the movie is due in Washington this month for a select viewing at an undecided site.