God Said, "Ha!" . Austin Chronicle . 03-30-98

God Said, "Ha!"

DIRECTED BY: Julia Sweeney

REVIEWED: 03-30-98

"The feel-good cervical cancer movie of the year!" That's how I'd sum up this concert film in my "let's mock Joel Siegel" mode, but actually, it's not too far off the mark. Saturday Night Live alumna Sweeney (It's Pat!) provides a first-person account of the traumatic year when she battled cervical cancer even as her brother Mike was fighting brain cancer, and the humor and compassion with which she spins the tale strokes our funny bone and stirs something warm inside. The movie captures on celluloid the solo stage show that Sweeney performed to acclaim, and like many a film version of a theatrical production, it suffers somewhat in the translation. There's that odd sense of being separated from the performer, who is clearly doing the show for a live audience, and that awkward issue of what to do with the camera so the film won't look stagy but won't constantly call attention to itself. Sweeney the director doesn't help matters with some curious choices, but whenever she settles on Sweeney the actor we're disarmed by her self-deprecating wit and decency and love for her family. She makes her cancer year a triumph of humor and humanness.

--Robert Faires

Capsule Reviews
God Said, "Ha!"
God Said, "Ha!"

Other Films by Julia Sweeney
God Said 'Ha!'

Film Vault Suggested Links
Unmade Beds
God Said 'Ha!'
The Watermelon Woman

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