The Crusader is a 2007 direct-to-dvd motion picture. It stars Matt Reaves and Anthony Bianchi.
Contents
Plot
Joe Johnson is a young college student in desperate need of a room to rent. Due to initially ambiguous reasons, he cannot return to the city that he has come from, and, having spent the previous month draining his savings in a hotel room, he is prepared to settle for any living arrangement, regardless of the conditions. He ultimately rents a room from a fellow college student named Tom, in spite of the latter's warnings that he is exclusively seeking to rent the room to a dedicated Christian. Given that Joe is only a lukewarm Christian at best, his lax attitude towards the faith causes tensions between him and his new roommate, culminating in a life-changing confrontation.
Cast and characters
Themes
The Crusader is a film that tackles such issues as religion in the modern day world, homosexuality, friendship, betrayal and hipocrisy. Through its characters, it observes the everyday complexities with regard to such aforementioned topics and how they impact individual people. For example, Joe is a character often torn between his personal principals, and those of religious faiths. He professes to be a devout Catholic, and yet he defends his best friend against his roommate, who opposes her homosexuality on religious grounds. Furthermore, Joe's defense of his friend's preference doesn't prevent him from using anti-gay slurs. In addition, while he claims to be a practicing Catholic, his crude behavior and poor decisions suggest otherwise. He is a walking contradiction, so much so that when his Muslim friend Muhammad attempts to persuade him to join Islam, he does so by pointing out as a black man, his ancestors most likely had Christianity forced onto them as slaves.