Nicolas Cage as Rayford Steele in "Left Behind" directed by...

Nicolas Cage as Rayford Steele in "Left Behind" directed by Vic Armstrong. In theatres on October 3, 2014. Credit: Stoney Lake Entertainment / Teddy Smith

"Left Behind" is Rapture-fiction as a dull zombie movie where the living dead are nonbelievers. The Christian faithful have disappeared, all over the world.

That moment, 32 minutes into director Vic Armstrong's film, is this remake's lone grabber. A college student (Cassi Thomson) loses her little brother in mid-hug -- empty clothes, baseball hat, glasses and backpack tumble to the floor of the mall where she's hugging him. The screaming starts and anarchy instantly sets in as nonbelievers start rifling through the purses of those taken and quickly move on to looting.

Meanwhile, student Chloe's airline pilot dad (Nicolas Cage) finds his alone time with that shapely flight attendant (Nicky Whelan) interrupted when some of his passengers vanish. He ducks back into the cockpit and his co-pilot is gone. Buck Williams (Chad Michael Murray), an investigative reporter and passenger on the jet, loses his cameraman.

Buck starts questioning passengers -- the angry dwarf, the Muslim everyone now suspects of something, a junkie who figures it's a flashback.

And on the ground, frantic Chloe tries to get home through the abandoned cars and buses and dazed or demented survivors. Home is where Chloe expects to find the fundamentalist mother (Lea Thompson) whose proselytizing drove her away and her father into the willing arms of the flight attendant.

A little early mockery of the faithful is as close to "edgy" as this film, based on the Tim LaHaye-Jerry B. Jenkins novel, gets. There's nothing pointed about it -- no politics. The judgment here is more implied than overt -- Muslims, philandering pilots, TV reporters and college kids aren't getting into heaven. It's inoffensive, unless you take umbrage at the idea that the only people who know not to steal are True Believers and all that keeps society from an instant meltdown are the Faithful.


PLOT Millions of people suddenly vanish and the world is thrown into chaos.

RATING PG-13 (some thematic elements, violence/peril and brief drug content)

CAST Nicolas Cage, Cassi Thomson, Chad Michael Murray, Lea Thompson

LENGTH 1:50

BOTTOM LINE Who knew the Rapture would be so dull?

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