Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story

This may be the best film no one has seen, despite the brief but important performance of rising star Heather Graham. {Perhaps the awkward title kept people away). "Entertaining Angels" does what few movies have: explore inner, spiritual conflict dramatically and intelligently. This is an engaging, challenging work for everyone. The film overall is not preachy, yet the religious dimension here is real, just as it is real in the lives of millions of Americans, whether the Hollywood inner-circle likes it or not.

Too bad Miss Kelly has no idea who Dorothy Day really was.

Missed the mark.

I liked this film. It tells the real-life story of Dorothy Day, who founded the "Catholic Worker" newspaper and relief agency for the poor in New York City during the Depression. Moira Kelly gives a very good performance as Day. The story follows her quest to find her way in life, ultimately leading to her helping thousands of people and providing a role model for activists.

The film contains a scene where Kelly says one of the most quotable lines ever: "If you feed the poor, you're called a saint. If you ask why they're poor, you're called a Communist." Kelly says this during a scene when she is responding to people who resist her search for the truth through her newspaper. Americans who are concerned with political freedom and justice should keep this statement in mind - it is especially salient today.

That said, there are flaws in "Entertaining Angels." Kelly's performance as the younger Dorothy Day is great, but in the film Day is supposed gradually to look older, and this aging process isn't convincing. Martin Sheen also has a part as a wandering, Christ-like, populist preacher. He's OK here, but his Inspector Clouseau-like French accent won't be on his career retrospective videotape. Also, the film might have bitten off more than it can chew. It could have used a bigger budget and a more professional cast.

Overall, though, this one is well worth a rental. I'm a big Moira Kelly fan, too. I hope she will be around a long time.

Entertaining Angels goes through the hard life of the converted Catholic Workers Movement leader Dorothy Day, portrayed by the extremely talented Moira Kelly. This movie is great even for people who don't know who Dorothy Day is. This movie is very excellent. If you like this movie you will probably like the Emmy nominated CBS movie Joan of Arc ( Peter O'Toole and Leelee Sobieski), and the Zeffirelli film Brother Sun, Sister Moon.

One of the finer discoveries in my search for obscure and unseen films, Moira Kelly is such an incredible, plunky, tomboy leading lady. One of the unsung stars of recent decades, from Gen X. This shows she could have been big in the 40s, 50s, or any era. Directors who knew, knew.

It was produced by the Paulist Fathers, a Catholic religious order, and directed by Michael Ray Rhodes, and the question is... who are these people? Because this is powerhouse filmmaking start to finish. The film's scale is unbelievable, every scene is crammed with energy.

The camera is so effortlessly free flowing and expressive, almost like a Japanese film the way it captures movement. When it's not moving or taking you through crowds, it is printing these beautiful human moments. It's pitch perfect acting and directing in total lockstep.