Sometimes a little bit of controversy can go a long way - in the case of Mel Gibson's The Passion Of The Christ the heaps of controversy it received for its depiction of the final moments of Christ's life resulted in a huge box office hit, earning over $600 million against a $30 million budget. Regardless of its alleged "authenticity" to either real life (if you're a Christian) or Biblical lore (if you're not), The Passion Of The Christ is a relentless barrage of brutal torture throughout much of the two hour running time. Many critics thought the graphic violence obscured any message Gibson was trying to put across but clearly movie goers were less perturbed - few films this violent are seen by such a vast audience.
