Reviews

I would not have wanted to pay six bucks to go see this in a theater. But for a film that I picked arbitrarily while browsing through Hulu on a day off from work, I have to say I really enjoyed this film. Yes, it borrows from other works, but that's not wholly astonishing for someone who's just getting started in any artistic field. There's a little bit of "The Crow" here, a little bit of "The Matrix," and a little bit of "The Prophecy," among others.

Maybe I'm a little lenient on low-budget films, but I disagree with those who are harshly critical of the acting. No one's getting so much as a Saturn Award for their work here, but I have seen worse acting in much bigger movies.

There were some problems with the plot that are reminiscent of things you've seen in a zillion other action movies, like the lack of cop cars during extended gun battles in town, but two shots get fired at the end of the film in a country house and they come with sirens a-blazin'.

Why aren't the cops keeping tabs on the phone calls of friends and family of their primary suspect while he's on the run? Everyone but law enforcement seems to know how to reach him.

All things considered, though, this wasn't a bad way to kill a couple of hours, and I think the director has a promising career.

*** SPOILER WARNING -- READER BEWARE ***

I rather enjoyed this movie. I agree with those who've said that the first 30 minutes of the film are expendable. The real fun is in the last hour. Now I would have ended it differently myself, swapping the fates of Marcos and Gloria, with Marcos drowning for real and Gloria getting rescued. A little more Neil LaBute and a little less Rod Serling. I think it would have been interesting to look in Gloria's eyes as she climbed on the chopper and settled in. Would we have seen any remorse flit across her face as she realized that she's actually going to have to face society with these three lives on her mind?

There are ways to make a bad-guys-get-what's-coming-to-'em kind of film, but this one struck me as a little pedestrian. I found the acting convincing as the tension on the boat built up. Henry Thomas has managed to keep both his acting skills and his body in shape. Bairstow and Swain are still just shy of making it really big, and I think clips of this film will help them in the long run. Overall, I'm saying 6 outta 10.

My biggest film-buff friends didn't like this movie, so it took me nearly five years to get around to seeing it. I'm very glad that I finally did see it. Expert cinematography, carefully-handled subplots, and rock-solid acting make this film a cinematic masterpiece.

The movie is slow, but I didn't find it boring. This is basically a frame story told in flashbacks. Be careful when watching this movie to note the dates of the various flashbacks, because they're not all in sequential order; however, I found that they were masterfully interwoven.

The primary love story didn't really pull at my heartstrings at first, but I frequently have to make an effort to set aside personal judgmentalism for a story about an adulterous relationship. It's easier for me when the betrayed spouse is blatantly evil or a big jerk, like Lord Wessex of "Shakespeare in Love" (Poor Firth... his female's always falling for a Fiennes) or the Thief of "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover." While Clifton may not have been a perfect husband, he genuinely loved his wife. Near the end of the movie, when Almasy and Katherine go back to the cave, (I'm trying to avoid a spoiler here) is when their love story really seizes my heart. It was around this point in the film that I began to realize what all the hype was about and see the genius of this film. I think the last 30 to 45 minutes are the best part of the movie and well worth the wait. This film was definitely worthy of its 1996 Best Picture nomination. Did it deserve to win? I haven't seen its competitors recently enough to offer an informed opinion, but I don't think the '96 Oscars upset the order and balance of the universe.

--=POSSIBLE SPOILERS=-- Proceed With Caution

"Priest" could have been a truly great movie. I like it overall, but I confess from the start that I'm probably biased. I'm gay and nearly became a missionary for a Protestant faith that has strong prohibitions against homosexuality, so I can relate somewhat to Father Greg. I think that the weaknesses of "Priest" lay in the subplots. I was very disappointed in Father Matthew for his sexual relationship with the housekeeper and his unrepentant attitude. Regardless of whether priests should be allowed to marry, Father Matthew took a vow not to get sexually involved with someone so that he can devote himself more fully to his parish. I think his marital-style relationship was a betrayal of the trust that his parish placed in him. I also wasn't keen on Father Matthew's vulgar language during one of his sermons. While I appreciated the sentiment, I probably would have walked out, too. I very much liked Father Matthew, however, and his supportive relationship with Father Greg. The subplot with the incestual molestation added some great drama, but the dilemma about the confidentiality of confession borders on trite. Priest movies are almost as certain to include this story-line as submarine movies are to include that slow, terrifyingly tense descent below the maximum depth for which the sub was designed.

What I love about this movie is that it really isn't about whether homosexuality is OK. Father Greg never attempts to defend his fling with Graham. He acknowledges that it was a mistake and even asks for the parish's forgiveness. I think the movie is a story of human xenophobia, people's paranoid reaction to something they don't or can't fully understand. I think it's about the parish's venomous lashing out against Father Greg when they would have been much more understanding had he slept with a woman. He'd be breaking the same vow either way, but if he breaks it in a way that someone else can't relate to or understand, then just cancel Christmas.

I live in a very conservative college town whose students threw a fit when the the university's film club held screenings of this movie on campus. I wish I had seen it back then. I wish more people from this town had seen it. The film doesn't argue for or against homosexuality. I think you can watch this film without having your stance on the issue challenged. The film is about people's failure, specifically Christian people's failure, to react in a way that is responsible and caring and forgiving toward a neighbor who makes a mistake that they may not be able to fully understand.