The Good Catholic

I grew up in a place and time when "The Thorn Birds" (1983 mini-series adaptation of a novel about a Catholic priest's forbidden love) was so hugely popular that, for at least a decade afterwards, references to and re-makes/adaptations of this premise kept popping up without losing the audience's attention. I mean, as far as "forbidden love" goes, this kind of premise is extremely advantageous: there's high stakes, there's tension, there's existential angst and crisis of faith, moral dilemmas and heartbreak...

You'd think it almost can't go wrong

But apparently it can, and it did in this film, which is SO bland and uninspired it's painful to watch.

The young (uber-hunk) priest is struggling with grief and a general lack of faith, but only in words. He repeats "I'm struggling with grief and a general lack of faith" several times throughout the film, but he totally fails to convince, despite the tears, because there isn't a story to back this up.

The woman (=love interest) character is totally random. She's apparently obsessed with death because life seems meaningless otherwise, but we don't find out anything about her that would turn her into a three-dimensional character. She's just quirky for the sake of being quirky. Everything she says (because this film is all about what people say, they don't really do much) amounts to "I'm so quirky, look at me, I'm so occasionally depressed and obsessed with death!"

And then there's the two supporting priest characters whose role and (lack of) depth can also be summed up in one-liners: there's the "I'm proper and wise and old-fashioned" and the "I'm quirky and rebellious and clearly here for comic relief, while also demonstrating that faith isn't necessarily about following all the rules or taking yourself too seriously".

Yeh so that's it. What I wrote above is the whole film. I swear there's absolutely nothing else in it. Every scene seems pointless because it just goes through the motions of its generic tag: "the crisis of faith scene", "the boy-meets-girl scene", "the break-up scene" oh and the should-have-been-powerful-but-ended-up-complete-nonsense "awkward dinner scene".

Don't waste your time. If the premise appeals to you so much go watch The Thorn Birds.

No matter what you might think this is about from the title, you're wrong. IOW, don't not see the film because of it. It's neither a polemic mocking religious faith, nor does it say anything about religion except maybe why don't we all just sit down and start over. All four primary characters are superbly cast, including Danny Glover who is about 3 steps above anything I've ever seen him in before. The subject matter is handled respectfully, albeit with liberal amounts of humor which zeros in on the fact that most religions take themselves way to seriously--which the production company apparently takes to heart, naming itself Pigasus (sic) Pictures.

This is about as perfect as you can expect an independent film to be. It's only flaw is there being too much lipstick on Daniel--which is so obvious, I wondered if they just wanted to give the audience something to criticize. Needless to say, there's no actual action for the action junkies, but the dialogue and the subject matter are outstanding--and at times, profound. This is my second "10" of the year, (18th all time), the first being only a week ago, so I was wondering if coming out of the summer movie drought has something to do with it.

It' doesn't'.

Catholic viewers, beware. The Good Catholic is a quirky, indie flick that takes a definite viewpoint. There are three Catholic priests, Danny Glover, John C. McGinley, and the lead character Zachary Spicer. Each great friends, each at different stages in their lives, and each with a different relationship with God. Danny is the oldest; he's the sage who is the most solely devoted to God. John is "the fun one". He puts pizzazz into the choir, he loves watching football games, and he's constantly cracking jokes. But, in an emotional sermon, he educates his congregation on the true meaning of compassion: to suffer with. Even though he seems like the stereotypical "fun priest" who uses slang and listens to hip hop, he really does have a meaningful relationship with God. Zach is the problem. He's grieving the death of his father, and it's extremely clear that his grief overwhelms and distracts him. He feels pain and loss, and when a quirky, non-religious, disrespectful young woman (Wrenn Schmidt) comes into his confessional, he gets taken out of himself for a while. It's very simple, to an outside viewer.

Wrenn is a pot-stirrer who intentionally bothers him and tries to disturb his life. At first, she tells him she's dying, and when she's secured his pity, she starts seeing him socially outside the confessional. Her behavior is highly inappropriate; everybody knows that a priest has taken a vow of chastity. She seems bound and determined to poke holes in his life and make him break that vow. She invites him into her apartment, she flirts with him ("Alright, you can take me home, but no funny business," she says before he's even offered to), and she actually informs him that they're dating. They're not dating! He's a Catholic priest - even a non-Catholic viewer can see how unacceptable her actions are.

When Zach invites her to dinner with the other priests, Danny takes a very hard stance with her. I got the feeling that the audience was supposed to think he was rude, but I was completely on his side. She was horribly offensive to him, called him names, and walked out of the dinner. All he did was remind her of a priest's choices, duty, and lifestyle. How is that rude?

All in all, I understood the message of the film, but I didn't agree with it. I'm not sure how Catholic viewers will feel about it (but I'm not going to give any spoilers). Those who don't really respect the church will probably really like it; they'll probably really like Wrenn's character.

DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. There is quite a bit of handheld camerawork in this movie, and it will make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!"

A 4-actor film and religious plot has necessarily to communicate much and good to be acceptable. In this case we have a lot of confusion. It is very difficult to find God from the safety and protection of a religious community. God can be found in the difficulty, need and suffering, rarely taking part of a congregation whose way of life is living comfortably. Here we have 4 characters and 4 situations the first one, the superior that believe himself infallible and with right to humiliate. Second; the priest who apparently is normal and flexible but who punishes and make kneeling to one boy who is wrong in singing. Third:The smart protagonist who tries but does not find God and Fourth, the girl who gets tired of not finding something worthwhile in this life, sleeps in a coffin and its motto is "See Jane Die". (Possibly, she is the only one who has God closer). The film is sometimes lacking in rhythm and is only valid for those who endure movies with religious theme. Nothing new.

I read a lot about this movie and since I'm a Catholic I looked up information about this movie from Catholic websites I could trust. I'm not sure what kind of light this shows Catholics in, especially the monk who smokes and seems to not care about the fact that this priest might be breaking his vow of chastity. Yes, I understand that priests are human and temptations are real. But I think it's important to point out that not all Catholic priests act this way. In fact, when a priest breaks his vow, its a very big deal. It sounds like a funny, romantic movie but its good to keep in mind, especially if you don't know much about Catholics, that this is not 100% accurate.