In New York last Wednesday evening I saw a pre-release screening of There Be Dragons. It is a most secular movie. In fact, it is probably the most secular movie you'll ever see about a saint. That is my assessment.
I would say that it is an honest portrayal of a saint as he might be viewed by a non-believer, and can therefore be very effective for our time. Every agnostic, atheist or any non-Christian or lukewarm Christian should see it. It is not a religious movie though religion is featured in it. It is extraordinary for it's lack of triumphalism and it's lack of clericalism. It is a testimony to the unobtrusiveness of holiness. The saint never draws unnecessary attention to himself. This movie is remarkable in that the saint simply passes by without any flare, so that, if you don't pay close attention, you won't even notice that he was there or what his presence did. The bar is very low here. The message is that a saint (like Christ) does none harm and is only humbly trying to help fix a very broken world in which everyone needs to cooperate for the necessary repair. And he does not need center stage to do it!
This movie very well portrays what is said of Christ in Matthew 12:15-21.
"Jesus withdrew from the place; and many followed him and he cured them all, and warned them not to make him known; that what was spoken through Isaias the prophet might be fulfilled, who said, 'Behold, my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will declare judgment to the Gentiles. He will not wrangle, nor cry aloud, neither will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoking wick he will not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory; and in his name will the Gentiles hope.'"
