18 lines
2.6 KiB
Plaintext
18 lines
2.6 KiB
Plaintext
ingredients : down-on-his-luck evangelist , church
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synopsis : sonny dewey ( robert duvall ) is a tireless texas pentecostal preacher who unexpectedly catches his wife ( farrah fawcett ) in bed with another guy .
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in a regrettable crime of passion he takes a baseball bat to the guy's head , and suddenly finds himself a fugitive for murder , and estranged from his wife and two kids .
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to atone for his sins , sonny flees to a rural bayou town in louisiana and baptizes himself as a new creature - - the apostle e . f . as the apostle e . f . sonny's main mission is to revive an abandoned church community and preach the gospel at the local radio station .
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soon he sets about resurrecting the one way road to heaven holiness temple .
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but sonny knows his time is short ; one day the police will find him .
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opinion : this movie is a thought-provoking look at an evangelist in real life terms .
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i believe that robert duvall ( who is the producer , director , writer , and main star of the apostle ) deserves an oscar for his performance as sonny the religious crusader - - a performance which is so complex and realistic it ranks as one of the finest acting performances on film .
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duvall's portrayal of a true believer is authentic , superb , and inspired ; it offers the audience a completely honest look at southern religion , as well as a portrait of a fallible , complicated man driven by his beliefs .
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incidentally , in real life duvall was just as 'driven' in getting the project underway .
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since no major hollywood studio wanted to risk financing a complex movie about an evangelist , the apostle as a project lay dormant for almost 13 years before duvall was able to get it done , paying for its production with his own money ( about five million dollars ) .
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in terms of hard-hitting realism and character portrayal the apostle would rank as one of the best movies of this decade , and i emphatically recommend the apostle for connoisseurs of stage and fine acting on film .
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similarly , those with a steep background in pentecostal christianity would find the apostle a thought-provoking experience .
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on the other hand , the apostle's main strength - - duvall's preaching - - is also what limits the apostle's target audience .
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in terms of plot and pure entertainment value , the apostle is definitely not for everyone .
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teenagers , action fans , comedy fans , and people who find church completely boring should stay far away from this movie , since three quarters of the film is watching sonny preach at church .
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in other words , the apostle is a four star performance , but with a very limited audience .
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