 |  | Redemption without repentance? For Apostle E.F., the answer is found here. |  |
It's an amazing movie, one that Robert Duvall acknowledges as a career peak in the accompanying documentary. It's amazing on so many levels that when the long road to financing the film is revealed (Duvall made it on his own dime), you want to look toward Hollywood and ask "What were you THINKING?" He reveals that his award for "Tender Mercies" made him think that a window of opportunity might open. However, "The Apostle" was to remain in Duvall's "theater of the mind" for a few years longer.
The casting is perfect. Walton "Shane Vendrell" Goggins (The Shield) really stands out as Sammy. Duvall discusses Sammy's "born again" scene, saying that Goggin's whole body was shaking as he knelt...it was as if he were actually witnessing a man being born again. Fans of The Shield and its DVD commentaries know that Goggins is the ultimate method actor, isolating himself prior to scenes being filmed, psyching himself up one thousand percent for the performance. He does not disappoint here. He tackles the role of a simple man with a good heart whose life is transformed after encountering a complex man with a stain on his soul (Apostle E.F.).
John Beasley's performance as "Reverend Blackwell" provides a reason to watch the movie all by itself. Sometimes in life we feel that we've given it all, it's time to rest, and the best is behind us. Then we are called to bring about something bigger than we'd ever imagined. That's Reverend Blackwell's fate, and he plays against Apostle E.F. magnificently.
Miranda Richardson as Toosie, the love interest...after Duvall's crime of passion, he attempts to rebuild his life, brick by brick. At one point he tells Toosie (who is separated from her husband) that all he needs is to hold someone who wants to be held. That's his agenda, not hers. She is there when the curtain comes down, but Apostle E.F. ultimately learns that redemption never comes before repentance.
Farrah Fawcett manages the impossible...viewers can sympathize with her marriage to a complex, troubled, controlling man like Apostle E.F. while having mixed feelings about her affair with the youth pastor. There is one chilling scene in which Fawcett, off-camera and in a voice-over, surveys the damage in her marriage (and beyond). She's an anti-hero...flawed, but in a manner that differs from her husband. Two flawed people in a doomed marriage, which sets up the underlying conflict that drives the story.
As if that weren't enough, the late June Carter Cash (as the Apostle's mother) delivers an elegantly understated yet powerful performance. Her presence is fitting as the hymns she sings throughout add to a powerful, masterfully assembled soundtrack.
Note to Robert Duvall: You financed the movie out of your own pocket, and it was worth every penny. Your audience is in your debt.
December 12, 2008This portrayal of a pentecostal preacher is the most realistic I've seen; others have capsuled it, so I won't here. Duvall plays Sonny (the preacher) with such humanness that you can't walk away loving or hating him - or if you can, it'll be both. I could never tell if Sonny was a genuinely God-touched person, or a gifted man making a place for himself in the world through preaching. No single incident in the story played it one way or another. He unquestionably had a gift in bringing people together, giving them purpose and redemption. But he also did some bad things, including (but not the worst), hiding the truth of what he'd done from his congregation. This piece was shown through the character of a young mechanic who overheard Sonny's story as he told it to another preacher, to fairly devastating effect. Every actor's portrayal was great, Duvall's most of all. It asks questions - what does it mean to be human, to suffer, to want, to hurt others, to be well, to be loved, to be in community? And how does God and the church play a role in all this... and do they? A great movie well worth watching.
November 26, 2008 | | Interesting but NOT great | |
It really is too bad that it took so long for Robert Duvall to make this movie as I thought he was a too old for his part. At the beginning, I honestly thought those were his GRANDCHILDREN and June Carter Cash was his wife. (Alot of Southern men call their wives "Momma": annoying but true). Duvall plays a VERY VERY flawed haracter. Several reviewers would have you believe that he is somehow "redeemed" at the end. Really? Because he so-called saves Billy Bob Thorntons character and that other young man? Give me a break! Speaking of BBT, he gives an extremely wooden performance, even worse than the too low-key Farrah. The preaching throughout this movie can be spellbinding but the last sermon Duvalls character gives is way too long and how come no one in the congregation notices or seems to care that the cops are there?
While it's not a total waste of time, it's not one I'd watch again.
August 22, 2008| | | What Exactly is he Trying to Say? | |
I am not really sure what to think about this movie. As a Pentecostal myself, I found it to be a good (although slightly exaggerated) portrayal of classic Pentecostalism. However, I am disturbed by Sonny's portrayal. How were we supposed to view him? A hypocrite? A sincere but flawed character? I notice from several reviews that this film is interpreted many different ways, and I can only give it three stars. Great acting, great depiction of Pentecostals, but very ambiguous message.
August 7, 2008Robert Duvall is without exception one of the best actors in this period, in my opinion. The Apostle is a movie about a man who, as a young boy, experiences highly charged evangelistic preaching, and in turn, becomes an evangelist. His Mother is his biggest supporter in his ventures. Even though he truly believes in Jesus and is a Christian, he commits unforgiveable sins, and is fully knowledgeable about what he has done, so he escapes from the place where the crime was committed, and, with very little money, strikes out to begin a new life. He only gives people his initials, and calls himself the Apostle. He manages to obtain a small church, and many willing workers to help him renovate it. He eventually draws a large crowd of followers, mostly African Americans. You almost hope he can go through life preaching to this simple group, but his past overtakes him and he soon has to pay the price for his crimes. this is a mesmerizing story, thanks to Duvall, and you will be totally captured by his phenomenal portrayal of the Apostle.
June 24, 2008More reviews at Amazon.com ...
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