When a beautiful young slave girl learns that her people are about to fall victim to a horrible act of genocide, she will be forced to choose between realizing her wildest dreams or stepping into the pages of history to embrace her destiny in an epic tale of one young girl who rises from peasant to princess to claim the heart of a king. Esther was born an exquisite beauty, but her people have been enslaved by the most powerful kingdom on the planet and her parents executed before she ever had a
chance to truly know them. Subsequently taken in by her kindly uncle, a royal scribe, Esther is soon spirited away to the royal palace to take her place in the king's harem. Trouble is stirring in this ancient land, however, and when the queen, Vashti, is banished by the unknowing king, palace princes scramble for a position of power the desperate king determined to live up to, and ultimately avenge the battles waged by his father long ago. Now, as the wheels of destruction are slowly set into motion, a malevolent prime minister who has fallen into favor with the king soon begins to wield a frightening amount of power by calling for the death of Esther's people. With time running out for her entire race, Esther must face her fears and be willing to lay down her life if she is to ever fully realize the plan that God has laid out for her. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Esther's triumph isn't because of divine intervention. It's her humanity and bravery that make her a legend, and make that One Night worth remembering, 2,500 years later.
Unfortunately [O'Toole and Sharif are] separated by five centuries, and never share a scene. For a movie with the most righteous of intentions, that's perhaps the most grievous moviemaking sins of all.
In itself, it's a riveting story. Unfortunately, director Michael Sajbel has envisioned an overwrought Lifetime movie of the week, complete with an Esther who could be a cast member of Laguna Beach and a king notable only for his washboard abs.
The performances are all solid, although the screenplay frequently bogs down with the complexity of palace intrigues and plots that could have been rendered more consumer-friendly.
It's that slavish refusal to detour from the most conservative possible interpretation of such events that ultimately makes One Night With the King little more than a dolled-up, oversimplified sermon.
This is one of those religious epics that looks like a religious epic, which is fine as far as it goes, but misses the mark because it doesn't manage to translate the feel of the original to the screen.
The film generally adheres to the main plot of the Biblical narrative. However, the film adds stylistic elements not present in the Biblical story. The Jewish narrative of the relationship between Esther (Tiffany Dupont) and Ahasuerus (treated as Xerxes I of Persia in this, as in many adaptations) was not a love story,
but a forced marriage in which Esther had no choice. The story presents many facets that could have happened rather than strictly sticking to biblical texts.
December 13, 2009
Wahida K
Super Reviewer
This was an Outstanding Movie, If you have traveled Western Europe or The Middle east, the scenes were so real, colors excellent, The Costumes were unbeleivable. This was a great movie, Do yourself a big favor get it, thank You Fox Family Video
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