Confession

Jonathan Myers makes an impressive film debut as writer/director of CONFESSION, a very well done film that unfortunately went direct to DVD. Though the script is at times a bit clumsy and the control over the arch of emotion from the actors could be tighter, the film succeeds as a thriller, beautifully capturing the mysteries of the Catholic traditions.

In a private, expensive Catholic Prep School Luther Scott (Chris Pine) is a business minded renegade, supplying the student body with booze, porn movies, and other off limits paraphernalia. His hesitant roommate Robbie (Lukas Behnken) assists him but on a turnkey night their partying dorm is visited by the headmaster Father Thomas Parker (Bruce Davison) with a potential rich Senator's student son: the party is over. The boys are all subjected to questioning as to the source of the contraband and one student informs on Luther and Robbie and in a fit of anger Luther pushes the student to his death while disguised/dressed as a priest. Luther makes Robbie promise to keep their secret and Luther 'absolves' himself in the confessional where he admits his murderous act to the kind Father Michael Kelly (Cameron Daddo). Obeying the rules that words said in confessional must remain secret, Father Kelly becomes suspect as the perpetrator and elects to remain silent. The manner in which Luther and Robbie cope with the arrest of an innocent man and the resolution of the crime provide the exciting if a bit predictable conclusion to the story.

The cast is variable but generally fine, especially Australian actor Cameron Daddo and young Chris Pine, allowing us to understand the rites of the Church without condescension. The cinematography is moodily atmospheric and the musical score by Ryan Shore admixes ecclesiastic tones with contemporary mood music. Given that this is a first film for Myers it is one worth examining for the potential it carries. Grady Harp

I watched it to the end, which is more than I can say for some films. My major gripe, other than that California does not look at all like Massachusetts, was the poor plotting and the one-note characters.

The priest himself could have asked for confession and advice from his superior about what to do.

The police work by the obsessed Catholic School hating detective was so abysmal that even a fresh out of law school public defender would have had the case thrown out of court. For example, Luke had been caught with a locker full of drugs and porn. Why did the priest who copped him not say so to the detective, and why did the detective not ask him where he had obtained it. Why did the priest not tell the detective right up front that Luke was being expelled for being caught with illegal drugs. This would have revealed that Luke would dress as a priest to get drugs without prescriptions from the pharmacy. Instead we got priests keeping their mouths shut and a detective determined to find a priest guilty and ignore all other evidence. Soap opera plotting. It would not have surprised me if Luke had turned out to be the secret son of the detective and the mother superior.

As a starter film this was OK, after all, everyone has to begin somewhere, but it could have done with a little tightening up.

"Confession" is both a thriller and a tragedy. There are no "evil" characters in this film, just people who make mistakes and don't know what to do after them.

At a prestigious Catholic prep school, bad boy Luther (Chris Pine) is the guy the boys go to when they want booze, porn or movies. After he throws a party in the dorm, he gets himself and his weak-willed roommate Robbie (Lukas Benkham) expelled. When Luther realizes that the school nerd, David Bennet (Adam Bussell) was the rat, they want revenge, and David ends up dead. Now the police are sniffing around, fingering a priest, Father Kelly, as the killer. Father Kelly was the last one to see David alive when he told the priest that he snitched on Luther. But what they don't know is that Luther confessed to killing David, which means that as the police are gathering evidence to pin the crime on Father Kelly, he can't tell the truth.

The characters in "Confession" exist in the area between good and evil called "human nature." Luther isn't a bad kid; he's a troublemaker, but he also feels incredibly guilty. Father Kelly is a good priest, but he has some secrets that he doesn't want told. Robbie is a good kid, but he's easily manipulated. These flaws are not only what define the characters, but they also drive the plot. The characters in the film do not act for the sake of the story; they act because it is in their nature.

The acting is uniformly excellent. Chris Pine, who played Captain Kirk in the "Star Trek" reboot, is terrific as Luther. He's mischievous, but the fact that the police think that Father Kelly is the killer is driving him mad with guilt. Cameron Daddo is equally good as the aloof priest; he's a good man, but he's quiet and has a questionable past. Lukas Benkhan is not as good as the two leads, but he's still a guy who we can really feel for. He knows what Luther does is wrong, but Luther is so charismatic that he goes along until he's in way over his head. Peter Greene has the least developed part as the investigating cop, but he has an arresting presence.

Director Jonathan Meyers wrote this script when he was 14, and considering the complexity of it, that's a stunning achievement. This film was clearly shot on an extremely limited budget, but Meyers makes the most out of it, giving the film a unique look. The sense of atmosphere is strong, and the pacing is terrific. It allows the suspense to build, while also allowing the tragedy to stew. There's really only one flaw, and that's a beginning scene where a wealthy senator, after seeing the party, leaves in a huff. The scene is heavy handed, and is not well acted by Robert Pine (Chris's dad).

This film was not widely released, and that's a shame. Whatever you do, find this movie, and see it! You will not regret it!

My rating: PG-13 for some violence.

This is a really poor film. Even the ones made for "movie of the week "are better than this. The story line is predictable, the acting is equal to a high school production and the entire premise, based on the sanctity of the seal of confession is weak. If you are thinking of renting this on DVD , save your money. The girl who plays the main character's girlfriend (who is supposed to be in high school ) , looks about 25 rather than a teenager. There is so much miscasting it is a joke.

At best, the main character Luther, is annoying and my Himalayan cat has more emotion than he possesses. A real turkey!!!

Confession is a drama set in a catholic boarding school revolving around the escapades of Luther Scott, it's self proclaimed "go-to" guy for everything from alcohol to adult magazines. The film does a good job of setting up the character of Luther, portrayed by Chris Pine, and starts to take a turn when Luther is ratted out by one of his classmates after a dorm hall party is busted up by one of the head priest.

I too was mislead by some of the comments on the board into thinking this was going to be something unique but instead found an average run of the mill TV movie. Starts out strong but drags heavily through the middle and it's predictable end.

What I found incredibly distracting was that almost all of the key players, including the 25 year old Pine, were trying to portray 17 year old boys! The overall acting is pretty poor, including some laugh out loud moments, but is adequately carried by Pine. But still you can't help but think you are looking at young stock brokers instead of adolescents. The believability of Pine and some of the other characters as schoolboys was simply stretched too far.

The plot is formulaic and at the end of the day leaves little to remember it by. A good candidate for Movie of the week but can't compete on the mainstream level. There are even mid-movie fadeouts where the commercial breaks will be. Save this one for the 2am "need to sleep" dozer unless you know someone who was in it.

5 out of 10 Maddis