Follows the same itinerary as Ticket to Heaven -- the transformation of a vibrant young man into, and out of, the blissful zombiedom of a religious cult -- and seems to rely on the same sources of information, down to such fine points as the communal sing-alongs and the chaperoned trips to the bathroom. There's not a great deal to choose between the two films. Ted Kotcheff's handling of the material is more visual and has more narrative drive, but the actual conversion and re-conversion of the central character is less convincing here, is accomplished in bigger jumps, and Peter Fonda's portrayal of the cult leader -- a sort of beardless Jesus Christ -- is a bit short on the requisite charisma. On the other hand, the central character's family background is more fully filled in here (his rock-'n'-roller father, his materialistic younger brother, his obedience-schooled dog), and James Woods's crude, erratic, almost psychopathic behavior as the mercenary de-programmer (You live for greed! "You live for sexual pleasure!" the cultist accuses him. "I live in a trailer park," he answers, "and I haven't been laid in months") is extremely interesting and entertaining. Further unconvincingness crops up, however, in the last-minute presentation of True Love as an alternative, less painful de-programming method. With Michael O'Keefe and Karen Allen. (1982) — Duncan Shepherd
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