The Fourth Wise Man (1985)
directed by Michael Ray Rhodes
written by Tom Fontana
Based on an 1896 story by Henry Van Dyke, the film presents the life of a fourth magi who, after saving the life of a stranger, is unable to meet up with his three fellows on their trip to Bethlehem. Instead, he finds himself caught up in the Slaughter of the Innocents and eventually attached to a community of lepers. Every time he picks up his search for the messiah, he misses Jesus, sometimes by days, sometimes by months. Even in the end, an aging, sickly man, he cannot find Christ - until he does.
Martin Sheen plays the magi, Artaban, and Alan Arkin plays his slave, Orontes. Their relationship is well done and these two extremely talented actors bring more life to the material than seems possible. The film is the product of Fr. Ellwood Kieser's Paulist Productions, the same operation that created the tv show Insight.
The movie was surprisingly alright. Despite a certain cheapness to the production and obviousness of some of the screenplay, it hit its targets pretty well.
The thing is, we're not going to keep it. There's not a lot of chance we'll throw it on again and it's available for cheap on the production company's website.
verdict - not a keeper, but it's worth checking out if you can
Martin Sheen and Alan Arkin
