Just a quick note…Charlie Rose will deal with the film tonight (11 p.m. ET). I think that’s worth noting because Rose is one of the best interviewers and professional conversationalists left on the planet, and his program airs on PBS shielding him from some of the corporate entanglements of the networks. The details:

A DISCUSSION ABOUT “THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST” with
JON MEACHAM, Newsweek
CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS, Journalist / Author
DAVID DENBY, Film Critic, The New Yorker
DAVID STERRITT, Film Critic, The Christian Science Monitor

Meacham wrote the recent Newsweek cover story that basically embraced the gospels as nice pieces of fiction that were written to advertise Christianity with little regard to historical accuracy. That was a long sentence. I don’t know what you’ll get from critics Denby and Sterritt or from the always provocative Hitchens.