One of several we’ll see over the next few days, this one with the LATimes

Given that early audience tracking forecasts suggest that “The Passion of the Christ,” — even with its protracted torture sequences, R-rating and dialogue in Aramaic and Latin — could earn grosses of $30 million in its opening days, it’s strange to find Gibson so beleaguered. Yet the 48-year-old actor barely speaks above a whisper, as if trying to keep a tight fist around his emotions.

For Gibson, to focus solely on the background of the story is to ignore the point of the movie, which in his eyes is “the sacrifice made by the savior of all mankind. It’s pre-ordained…. Now, the message he brought was one of peace and love and tolerance — all the messages of tolerance that I put in there, particularly toward the end…. I think it’s pretty hard to misunderstand.”