Amita RajGuru, Post 6

Leap of Faith, 1992, Richard Pearce

Are you ready for a miracle? Directed by Richard Pearce, Leap of Faith is a comedy about a fake “faith healer” who falls in love with a skeptic of his work in a small town. The film begins with a series of moving establishing shots that show where the traveling band of scam artists are traveling – showing road and street signs along the way. Jonas Nightengale (Steve Martin) is introduced to the audience as a scam artist through a short skit with a police officer, where Jonas schmoozes his way out of a ticket. This scene is made up of several medium shots that switch back and forth between the two characters before they part on their separate journeys. 

An interesting medium shot is used when the gang arrive at the small-town diner and Jonas is trying to talk about his reasons for preaching in his efforts to sweet-talk the waitress, Marva (Lolita Davidovich). Jonas leans back into a medium close up shot and then looks up at Marva. Since the screen is temporarily empty until he leans into the frame, and then looks up at her mockingly, it makes him seem like an untrustworthy but smooth-talking character.

Once the film begins to pick up, the audience is given lots of dialogue scenes, that involve two-shots rather than over-the-shoulder shots. This is an interesting and dynamic way to portray the scene because the person who is speaking is generally in the foreground while the listener is in the background. Moreover, when two-shots are used as reaction shots in larger conversations, the more important character (usually Jonas) is shown in the front – an example of this can be seen when Jonas and Jane Larson (Debra Winger) are speaking to Sheriff Will Braverman (Liam Neeson) when they first arrive in town. 

A memorable example of an exception to this rule, however, can be seen right before Jonas conducts his first evangelical, faith-healing sermon: speaking from the background as he fixes his shirt and tie, Jonas walks into the foreground where Jane is sitting and walks past her out of the frame while still talking – this acts as a smooth segue into the next scene of his elaborate sermon.

The film doesn’t contain a lot of full shots, but when they are used, they have a specific – mainly, to draw the audience’s attention to Jonas’s trickery. Predominantly used to show Jonas’s sermons, the audience can clearly see the high levels of energy that Jonas is channeling towards the on-screen audience. Moreover, we can see both his actions and their reactions, which seem overly exaggerated on both parts. Since we are aware that Jonas is a fake, the full shot creates a sense of irony and pity for the audience who believe Jonas. The most effective example is when Jonas “faith heals” a wheelchair-bound woman to walk again. The full shot allows the audience to see Jonas goading the old woman on, as well as the almost bewitched look on her face and the cheering audience around her.

Another effective full shot, however, is used to change the tone of the scene. During one of Jonas’s sermons, the sheriff interrupts him and reveals Jonas to be a fake to the audience. At this time, everyone is quiet and seated while the sheriff and Jonas are standing. All these factors lend credibility to the sheriff in this moment.

Character relationships are hinted at through the camera angle, such as the over-the-shoulder shots. For example, when Jonas is speaking to Marva, we see the back of the silent character’s head while the other speaks – in other words, they are both in the shot. Other characters who are not as familiar are shown speaking to each other via medium shots and medium close-ups so only one of them is in the shot, creating a sense of distance.

Towards the end of the movie, in one of the most climactic scenes, Marva’s brother who couldn’t walk after a car accident is healed after interacting with the wooden figure of Jesus. Though the audience is left questioning whether this was an actual faith healing act or a scam by an aspiring scam artist (because he later wants to join Jonas and his crew), Pearce films this scene very carefully: starting with a few shots of the boy’s face and the face of Jesus, Pearce shows the second take at the boys face to be a scared and nervous reaction shot. This reminds the audience of the conversation Marva had with Jonas when she revealed the previously unsuccessful faith healing on her brother. The tension then rises when the viewer sees the boy’s feet walk up to Jesus, and then a still shot of Jesus’s feet, which creates a relationship in the audience’s mind between the two. The next shot is a high shot just slightly above the boy’s head that looks down on him as he looks up to Jesus. This shot gives Jesus, the holy figure, power over the boy and makes his recovery seem that much more miraculous.

The end of the film is made up of more medium-close up and close-up shots, which create a sense of intimacy with the characters because they have gotten to know each other over the past few days. To close the movie, establishing shots, moving shots and a few medium close-up reaction shots are used to show Jonas’s guilt over lying to his “followers”. The camera tilts and pans around people camped out to see and hear him speak, but his guilt gets the better of him. Ending on a heartwarming note, the town that has been dry for quite some time is replenished with rain after Jonas leaves for a fresh start and Jane can stay with the sheriff with whom she has fallen in love.