Apostle, The (1997)

reviewed by
James Kendrick


"The Apostle" (USA, 1997)
A Film Review by James Kendrick
**** (out of ****)

Director: Robert Duvall || Screenplay: Robert Duvall || Stars: Robert Duvall (Euliss "Sonny" Dewey), Farrah Fawcett (Jessie Dewey), Miranda Richardson (Toosie), Todd Allen (Horace), John Beasley (Brother Blackwell), June Carter Cash (Sonny's Momma), Walt Goggins (Sam), Billy Joe Shaver (Joe), Billy Bob Thornton (Troublemaker) || MPAA Rating: PG-13


True faith and its expression through organized religion is a difficult subject for a motion picture to tackle head-on, which is probably why so few of them do it. Even the most religious directors - like Martin Scorsese or Ingmar Bergman - usually address issues of faith in implicit rather than explicit religious terms.

So it's not hard to see why it took Robert Duvall fifteen years to get "The Apostle" onto the big-screen. As a matter of fact, even after fifteen years he still never managed to get financial backing, and he ended up paying for it with $5 million of his own money. He also wrote the script, directed the film, and starred as the central character, a fiery Texas preacher named Euliss "Sonny" Dewey. Few filmmakers have the courage and sheer audacity to take on that kind of financial, technical, and creative responsibility single-handedly, and it's testament to what an intensely personal project this was for Duvall. And, thankfully, every bit of that personal investment translates on-screen into power and honest emotion.

Sonny is an energetic, Pentecostal preacher who has been speaking (actually shouting) from behind the pulpit since he was twelve. He spends much of his time traveling about the country, evangelizing with other preachers at tent revivals. Unlike most Hollywood characterizations of intense preachers, Sonny is not a phony or a swindler, and the film's purpose is not to unearth hypocrisy and sin in either Sonny or the church. Duvall makes it abundantly clear that Sonny truly believes in what he says, although like all humans, he has weaknesses.

One of his weaknesses become apparent when he finds out that, not only does his long-suffering wife, Jessie (Farrah Fawcett), want to leave him for another man in the congregation, but the two of them have secretly plotted to remove him as preacher. Faced with the loss of two things he loves passionately- his church and his family - that same raw power that allows Sonny to get entire congregations rocking and swaying transforms into a violent temper. At his son's baseball game, Sonny snaps and smashes his wife's lover in the face with a baseball bat, inflicting a wound that may be fatal.

Not knowing what else to do, Sonny disappears. He throws away his identification, drives his car into a lake, and takes a bus to Louisiana, hoping to start over again. In the tiny, mostly poor coastal town of Bayou Boutte, Sonny once again finds his calling. After befriending a simple auto mechanic (Walt Goggins) and tracking down the town's ex-minister (John Beasley), Sonny sets up his own church, The One Way to Heaven Temple. Re-christening himself as "The Apostle E.F.," he quickly draws together an eager congregation, and together they realize real change in each other's lives. But, always, Sonny's past is lurking a step behind him, waiting to swallow his progress.

Duvall has made his intentions in making "The Apostle" clear. In a recent article in "Newsweek," he wrote: "Filmmakers hardly ever depict spirituality with such a strong emphasis on the Holy Spirit, and when they do, it tends to be patronizing - full of charlatans and snake handlers ... But what I really wanted to do was try to understand what these preachers go through and what they believe, and to portray it in an accurate way."

The strength of Duvall's convictions turn out to be the strength of his film - "The Apostle" always rings true, even in the most painful moments, because we know he's being sincere with the subject matter. After fifteen years of traveling the country, listening to all shapes and sizes of ministers and taking studious notes on what they said, Duvall has captured the energy and vitality of what it means to be truly spiritual.

His Sonny is a man who speaks directly to God and expects to be spoken right back to. "I've always called you Jesus and you've always called me Sonny," he says. When neighbors call and complain that he is being too loud one night in one his rants with the Man Upstairs, Sonny's mother (June Carter Cash) just hangs up on them because she knows there's no sense trying to interrupt him.

The main theme to emerge from "The Apostle" is the fact that good can come from any situation. Sonny's act of violence toward another human being is inarguably a horrific thing, and Duvall never shrinks from that fact. However, that very same act of violence is what brings Sonny to Bayou Boutte, where he finds people whom he desperately needs and who desperately need him.

In his short time in Louisiana, he does a world of good, and when the police finally show up to take him away, he goes quietly, knowing that he deserves the punishment that is awaiting him. And, as a scene during the final credits shows, he even turns his punishment into a positive opportunity for change and betterment. It is that strength in Sonny's character that makes him so appealing and magnetic to others - he is flawed, but he is powerful enough to overcome those flaws. Weak men are the ones who simply accept their weaknesses and lack the desire to better themselves.

Watching Duvall on-screen, it's not hard to imagine that he would have been a magnificent preacher if he had chosen that vocation over acting. As Sonny, he completely inhabits the character, and his performance is certainly the best of the year. Because he spent so much time absorbing the traits, methods, quirks, and personalities of real preachers, Duvall was able to create a complete character who always feels indelibly human.

As a director, Duvall feels that less is more. His camera simply takes in what goes on in front of it, with very little intrusion. There are no fancy crane shots or extended dollies or excessive close-ups. Duvall knew that the power of the film's characters (enhanced by the fact that he cast mostly non-professional churchgoers and actual ministers) didn't need to be artificially enhanced. In this way, "The Apostle" almost plays out like a documentary, not only in its technical simplicity, but more importantly, in its sense of reality.

©1998 James Kendrick


Visit "Charlie Don't Surf!" an eclectic collection of film reviews by James Kendrick http://www.bigfoot.com/~jimkendrick || E-mail: jimkendrick@bigfoot.com


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