The second half of the movie was purely Hollywood fantasy...
I agree. I thought the first half was very, very good, the second half kidda schmaltzy. Who was the Fiennes character interviewing toward the midpoint? Peter? He seemed like a giggling school girl rather than a messenger from God.
No, it was not Peter. Yes, it was a disciple whose mind had been blown by what he had seen. Giddy with joy. Now, as to the reception of the tribune by the disciples? No way would a first century Jew have received a gentile, a Roman especially as quickly as that. Despite all that had happened, it would have been too much, too soon. But, of course, this is a parable. The tribune is the man in the audience.