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In my opinion, they don't want people to believe Jesus was the Christ prophesied in the old Testament. They don't believe it. They don't want other people to believe it either.

Maybe your right, I don't know. The one thing I've always wondered though, but never had the opportunity to ask anyone I know, that would know, is if there is a prevalent sentiment of dislike for Jesus in the Jewish community. IOW, do they see him as an eternal thorn in the side?

Following is a pre-review of the movie by Rod Dreher (National Review Online) which I found salient:

RE: THE PASSION

I saw it yesterday, and was deeply moved. I'll have a column about it in tomorrow's Dallas Morning News. But a few things here: 1) the intensity of this film blasts away the standard bourgeois American domesticated Jesus we get from too many pulpits today; it's impossible to come out of this movie and to remain satisfied with the faith as it is lived in much of America, and even in your own life; 2) I was startled by how much empathy I had for Caiaphas and Pilate; echoing Mike's comments, the movie made me see that both of them reacted very humanly to the "problem" of Jesus: if I were a temple priest, and I'd had to listen to this preacher going around calling me and my kind hypocrites, and then had him right in front of me claiming to be the Messiah, I'd surely see him as an outrageous blasphemer; if I were Pilate, a colonial bureaucrat who just wanted to keep the peace and avoid trouble, why wouldn't I have given this innocent stranger over to die, if it made my life easier? Like Mike said, the religious and political authorities just wanted to defend order -- and lots of us contemporary conservatives understand the impulse.

Which is all to say that this film made me understand in my bones that if I had been there, I probably would have wanted to crucify him too. And, as the Church teaches, in some mystical way, I did.

the intensity of this film blasts away the standard bourgeois American domesticated Jesus we get from too many pulpits today; it's impossible to come out of this movie and to remain satisfied with the faith as it is lived in much of America, and even in your own life;

This movie shattered my view of Christ on the Cross as a Catholic. In all of my life of going to church and looking up at Christ crucified, he always seemed so serene with a crown of thorns and a slight stab wound. Seeing Christ as a bloody pulp (excuse my expression) hanging from the cross was a complete eye opener. Gibson sent a message to my faith to wake up and understand the brutal path Christ followed to wipe sin from man.