Mary Magdalene (12A) **

Dir: Garth Davis

With: Rooney Mara, Joaquin Phoenix, Chiwetel Ejiofor

Runtime: 120 minutes

SHE-devil or saint? That was the question emblazoned on posters for Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia’s 1958 biblical epic about Mary Magdalene, La Spada e la croce, complete with a scene of star Yvonne De Carlo in a racy costume.

Fast forward 60 years and the advertising for Garth Davis’s drama presents a very different face to the world. A sombre Mary (Rooney Mara) is to the fore, her head covered, looking straight at the camera, while Jesus (Joaquin Phoenix) stands behind her, eyes cast downwards, taking second billing. This time the cover line is “Her story will be told”. From sword and sandals hooey to feminist “herstory”. How times change.

How much closer to the truth Davis’s drama brings us, however, is anyone’s guess. There have been so many versions of Mary: saint, prostitute, two characters blended into one, not to mention Dan Brown’s leap into the fictional dark. Indeed, Melvyn Bragg devoted an entire In Our Time to the subject. If Melvyn and his cast of experts cannot get to the heart of the matter what chance do the movies have?

Nevertheless, we must take Garth Davis’s attempt seriously if for no other reason than all concerned do so. From Phoenix and Mara to Chiwetel Ejiofor and Tahar Rahim, the cast reads like a Who’s Who of the hippest acting talent in Hollywood. What a pity, then, that a bold intention to redress the balance of history firmly in Mary’s favour has resulted in such a dreary, drawn-out whimper of a movie. Bragaglia’s Mary Magdalene had its faults, but being monumentally dull was not among them.

Davis (Lion, Top of the Lake) begins his story with a look at Mary’s life in Magdala. Renowned for her mercy towards those in need, Mary looks destined to have the same sheltered existence as her mother and sisters before her. In her case, the men in the family have decided she is to be married off to a widower. Mary, however, believes she is not made for such a life. She shows her rebellious streak in other ways, including praying with the men. Her brother and others try to drive the “demon” out of her, but Mary only retreats further into herself.

Around the same time a prophet and healer by the name of Jesus arrives in the area, and Mary decides to become another of his disciples, leaving her home and scandalising her family further.

From this point on the story unfolds as one would expect, with the journey towards Jerusalem and all that happened there. The difference this time is that it is supposed to be Mary’s chance to shine, to be portrayed as a confidante and adviser to Jesus, a woman in her own right.

Not that you would know any of this from a screenplay that is far too subtle for its own good. With so little dialogue for Mary initially all Mara can do is try to signal her character’s growing confidence with a knowing nod here and a mournful glance there. For most of the film, Mary stands on the sidelines where she has always been. When she does eventually get round to articulating her position a long two hours have passed.

Davis’s picture is better in its retelling of an old tale than it is in refashioning Mary’s character for the modern era. Phoenix has the lion’s share of the dialogue and the chance to deploy that trademark intensity of his to the utmost. Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) is a fine fit as Peter, watchful and concerned. Best of all, even rivalling Phoenix at times, is Tahar Rahim (seen most memorably in Jacques Audiard’s French prison drama A Prophet) as Judas. Rahim plays the character as a man blinded by grief, whose desperation to rejoin his family in the afterlife leads him towards a fateful decision.

One is left wondering who will go to see Davis’s film. The usual audience for Mara’s pictures, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Carol to name but two, are likely to be thoroughly bored. While there remains a large audience for biblical epics (witness the Mel Gibson directed The Passion of the Christ, worldwide earnings $622 million) they, too, are likely to feel underwhelmed by Davis’s reluctance to state a bolder case. For a film that is meant to be all about belief, Mary Magdalene is curiously lacking in the stuff.