Imagine the consequences if Jesus Christ was never resurrected and his body was discovered buried in a tomb in Jerusalem. Or at least, that is the possibility that this film presents. Anyway, informed of this possible discovery by Israel, the Roman Catholic Church sends a priest named "Father Matt Gutierrez" (Antonio Banderas) to investigate. Although skeptical of Father Gutierrez's impartiality, the archaeologist, Sharon Golban" (Olivia Williams) allows him to accompany her into the tomb she discovered. Since many of the details of this discovery have yet to be thoroughly analyzed, she does her best to explain each step of the process along the way. Obviously, the significance of the results to the Christian faith is enormous. Israel is also concerned because possessing the body of Christ is a two-edged sword. On the one hand, it might bring them an invaluable bargaining chip with the West. On the other hand, the influential Orthodox Jewish members within Israel are infuriated with the sacrilege being done and want the site closed immediately. Additionally, realizing that something extremely important has been found, the Palestinians also become involved and seek to possess or destroy whatever is in the tomb. At any rate, rather than disclose some of the more interesting parts of this film, I will just say that the director (Jonas McCord) does a pretty good job of keeping the tension going all the way from start to finish. While the acting was only adequate and I thought the ending could have been drawn out a bit more, I still found it to be an enjoyable film overall.

This movie blew me away the first time that I saw it.

The politics of religion is something that has not been dealt with very well in the movies. This movie does it very well. I found that the reactions to the possible finding of the Christ's tomb to be intriguing. The Catholic Church has told the investigator that the bones in the tomb ARE NOT the bones of the Christ, whatever he finds out.

Each side in this story wishes to use the bones in any way that will be advantageous to themselves. The reality of the bones is immaterial to all of them.

Christ said that "the truth will set you free." In this movie it shows that when it comes to politics, the truth is whatever will get people to follow what you want them to follow.

God has no place in politics—this is the theme of The Body, an interesting film, if not a particularly 'entertaining' one.

Antonio Banderas plays Father Matt Gutierrez, a priest sent by the Vatican to investigate the discovery of a tomb in Jerusalem, which may or may not contain the crucified remains of Christ. Gutierrez has been given instructions by the Vatican to declare that the remains are not those of Christ; but with all of the evidence suggesting otherwise, the priest must struggle with facing the fact that his religion may be founded on a lie, and that, perhaps, Jesus was never resurrected.

Questioning his faith is only the beginning of Gutierrez's problems: Orthodox Jews, angry at the tomb being disturbed, attack the archaeologists; the Israelis blackmail the Vatican, only offering to hand over the body if the Vatican recognises Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel; and the Palestinians, who get wind of Israel's plan and are naturally displeased, kidnap the children of sexy archaeologist Sharon Golban (Olivia Williams),forcing her into stealing the bones.

The movie, shot on location in Jerusalem, has beautiful cinematography and great acting from Banderas and Williams, but the complicated plot may cause many viewers to lose interest. Those with a particular interest in the subject matter will probably glean the most from this rather long and intricate tale, but I can imagine the casual viewer quickly becoming bored.

If you choose to watch this, I recommend that you stick it out to the end; you may not be riveted to the screen but, like me, you might learn a little about a fascinating subject.