Seeks divine inspiration but comes up empty-handed

For his documentary, Oh My God, first-time director Peter Rodger travels the globe gathering interviews on the subject of God and picking up some interesting souvenirs along the way. Stepping in front of the camera to share his opinions and become a subject of his movie, Rodger is an able tour guide but lacks the charisma of other doc figureheads Michael Moore or Chris Rock. More average Joe than a compelling expert; Rodger fails to make Oh My God more than a travelogue. While beautiful photography of the faraway lands Rodger visits and crisp editing keep the movie flowing at a fast pace, Oh My God remains a hit-and-miss collection of interviews that fail to create a single, compelling message. A strong outreach campaign to various religious groups and marketing that emphasizes the film's newsworthy elements will help attract modest support from fans of socio-political documentaries. However, Rodger fails in his role as on-camera figurehead, which makes crossover business unlikely for the Mitropoulos Films release in November.

Oh My God is as much about Rodger's growing awareness about the world's various religions as it is about the history of religion in culture and its powerful role in world politics today. Some of Rodger's interviews are more interesting than others; Ringo Starr and Bob Geldof offer particularly amusing insights. However, what's clear midway into the movie is Rodger's inability to get something fresh or exciting from the religious leaders, odd celebrities and average folks he interviews on his travels to India, Guatemala, Israel and many points in-between.

Rodger works from his own script so any criticism with the questioning lies solely on his shoulders. He's more successful as the film's cameraman and fills Oh My God with beautiful images of the open highway, mountainous vistas and ancient ruins. Editor John Hoyt keeps the globetrotting coherent and lively. Composer Alexander Bubenheim perfectly matches the film's photography with wonderful world music. When the image and the music come together beautifully, which happens on more than one occasion, Oh My God resembles the classic landscape doc Powaqqatsi. Still, Rodger has made a political documentary, although one that fails to enlighten or offer anything new to the topic.

Rodger, who takes on a courageous amount of responsibilities for his first feature, proves to be a better cameraman than onscreen moderator. Oh My God is a good and timely topic but Rodger fails to make a movie as complex and fascinating as the religious leaders he meets. One scene, involving a devout Muslim attempting to find a particular passage in the Koran comes off as a bad joke. Rodger also struggles to find an appropriate ending for the film and as a result Oh My God seems over-long.

Still, Oh My God is a welcome alternative to the abundant political docs dealing with the environment, food and "green" lifestyle choices. Religion and God are good subjects for a documentary and hopefully another director will take a shot. As for Rodger, Oh My God is a solid first feature, one that earns him another shot in the director's chair. Next time he may want to stay out of the picture.

Distributor: Mitropoulos Films
Cast: Ringo Starr, Hugh Jackman, Baz Luhrmann and Bob Geldof
Director/Screenwriter/Producer: Peter Rodger
Genre: Documentary
Rating: Unrated
Running time: 93 min.
Release date: Nov. 13, 2009 NY and LA