Film Review: End Of The Spear (2006) B-

Date Viewed: 6/21/06
Venue: DVD

End of the Spear, based on a true story, tells the tale of missionary encounters with the primitive and bloodthirsty Waodani natives of South America. Well…maybe it’s also about the Waodani’s encounters with the missionaries. Or…well, you see what I’m getting at, End of the Spear can’t make up its mind whose story it wants to tell.

Mostly set in the 1950s, the film is framed by narration from one of the missionaries’ sons (Chad Allen, who also convincingly plays the father) who has come back to the jungle decades later. The bulk of the film is a flashback to the missionaries’ deadly first contact with Waodani. Ever courageous, the remaining missionaries do not give up and slowly begin to earn the trust of the Waodani in their efforts to teach them Christian morals.

This is an interesting film because it delves so deeply into the lives of the Waodani. We see how they live and the spiritual justification for their murderous ways. Louie Leonardo turns in a stellar performance as Mincayani, the tribe leader struggling to protect the old ways in the face of change. I wanted to see more of Mincayani, it is his eventual transformation that is the heart of the film, but End Of The Spear is too busy telling EVERYONE’S stories.

I know this is a church funded film, but don’t you worry blue-staters, there’s no excessive preaching or proselytizing, it’s not going to violate your freedom of religion or make you repeat the entire Pledge of Allegiance. It’s really just a missed opportunity, for this is an intriguing and eventually moving story about forgiveness and the most Christian value of all: love. Despite an abundance of material ripe for the picking, End of the Spear simply tries to cover too many bases and winds up covering none adequately.