Billy, Don't Be a Hero

Nashville-shot Graham biopic drowns in its own great-man worship Nashville-shot Graham biopic drowns in its own great-man worship Published on October 09, 2008 The Billy Graham biopic Billy: The Early Years runs just 99 minutes; there's all the proof you need of a merciful God. Sanctimonious, zealously overdirected by actor Robby Benson, and hindered by a framing device so wrong-headed it detracts even from the sections that work, Billy represents not one but two squandered opportunities: the story of the century's most powerful evangelist—the man who helped broker the current love match of church and state—as well as the associate who simultaneously looked hard at the 20th century's horrors and lost his faith. Swiping a page from Amadeus, the movie tells Billy's early life story as the deathbed remembrance of Charles... [read full story]