The Pastor Who Looked Evil in the Face, by John W. Kennedy

Hollywood multi-hyphenate Todd Komarnicki first burst onto the public’s radar in 2003 as one of the producers of the Christmas comedy classic Elf. From there he went on to demonstrate his versatility across several projects and genres, notably the dramatic screenplay for the much-acclaimed 2016 biopic Sully (based on the book by the late Jeffrey Zaslow).

With Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin, Komarnicki is again in dramatic biopic territory as he takes on the life and times of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Lutheran pastor who resisted the evil of Nazi-era Germany—even to the point of pushing the bounds of the Sixth Commandment and becoming involved in a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Most people today, including me, would say he was justified in doing so, but what are the implications for our current politics when comparisons to Hitler are thrown about rather loosely? That’s just one of the profound questions raised by the thought-provoking film, which opens in theaters November 22, which, coincidentally, is the 61st anniversary of the JFK assassination. …