The Rainbow Man/John 3:16

Rating:
Summary: LIFE AND CRIMES OF A MAD PROPHET
Review:

If you're a certain age, you may recall watching sporting events on TV and suddenly noticing a guy in the stadium with a rainbow colored Afro wig. THE RAINBOW MAN/JOHN 3:16 (Facets/Other Cinema) is Sam Green's fascinating look at the troubled life and crimes of Rollen Frederick Stewart aka "Rainbow Man."

What started out as a freaky, self-promoting stunt at hundreds of televised sporting events, morphed into something else when Stewart became a "born-again" Christian and started wearing a T shirt with "John 3:16" stenciled on it.

In the stands and on the sidelines at thousands of events, he watched a battery powered TV so he knew when to drop a banner from a rail or dance on his seat at just the right time and place to be televised.

Stewart's intrepid, single-minded pursuit of the TV camera as a means of spreading "the message" of Jesus' love became an obsession about an approaching apocalypse. Stewart, who watched TV preachers, news and reality type shows like "Cops" and "Hard Copy" when he was off camera, believed time was running out for mankind. He left his marriage, lived out of his car and roamed the country making his gonzo TV appearances where millions of viewers saw him. In one case his life was threatened by a TV producer.

In desperation, he bungled a kidnapping and held a hotel maid hostage demanding hours of network TV time to spread a final warning before he would release his captive. He was captured and sentenced to three life terms.

Stewart speaks directly to the camera in what appears to be a prison interview. His rant remains the same: "The end of the age has arrived." There's a resigned look on his face but a glint of the true believer remains his eyes. As I watched this strangely compelling documentary, I kept thinking: The world is crazier than ever -- what if Rainbow Man is right?