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Friday, January 28, 2010

MOVIE REVIEW 
The Rite
In Jesus Camp, The Devil Dances


Anthony Hopkins as Father Lucas in "The Rite", directed by Mikael Håfström
Warner Brothers

by Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com        Follow popcornreel on Twitter FOLLOW
Friday, January 28, 2010

"The Rite" will be familiar to audiences who have seen "Rosemary's Baby", "The Exorcist" or "The Omen".  All tread the terrain of exorcism and horror more adeptly than Mikael Håfström's thriller, which opened across the U.S. and Canada today.

Michael (Colin O'Donoghue) wants to quit seminary school.  Deeply skeptical of the power of faith, he believes science and psychology can cure the maladies lurking within the human heart.  After giving comfort to someone in distress, he's persuaded to take a two-month course on exorcism in Rome at the Vatican.  He soon encounters Father Lucas (Anthony Hopkins), a priest and an exorcist.  Lucas, we're told, is an unorthodox fellow when it comes to exorcism.  (Oh, Christ.)

Mr. Håfström's film begins promisingly, immersing us in moments of reasoned conversation about good and evil and its fine, precarious line.  The film is lavish and inviting, tasting like a high-priced entree at Gary Danko.  How filling is it?  For a while, very satisfying.

Michael's beliefs are inevitably tested by Fr. Lucas.  The conversation and build-up around these affairs holds interest until late in act two when Mr. Hopkins' exorcist yields to campy court jester extraordinaire.  The film abandons its issues.  (Is sin inherent in the human condition?  And how, if at all, is it best cured?  Does faith corrupt?  Is evil present in good people and in faith worship?  The movie dangles the obvious answer throughout: evil can infect anyone given the chance.)

Nonetheless, you wait for the discussion to unfold more thoroughly into the contours of this thriller, but it doesn't.  Instead "The Rite" falls apart on cue like timed dominoes, flopping into melodrama and a showcase for Mr. Hopkins' ham act, which while initially amusing quickly goes stale.  The characters (specifically Michael, who's smarter than everyone else) are sidelined spectators, forced to watch theatrics ensue in service of the predictable and empty payoff that the movie's poster advertises.  The filmmakers are unable to sustain the film's best elements and see them through to the finish line.  It's a pity, because what transpires for an hour is entertaining. 

Purportedly based on true events, "The Rite" is stuck in the trappings of its overblown symbolism.  The film forces both unconvincing atmosphere and suspense via obvious clichés and props while abandoning any intellectual potential.  Undeniably "The Rite" flaunts rich decor and natty production values.  Its cinematography is stunning.  I was absorbed and enticed by the film's look and feel, but when the film got cold feet in its hasty retreat from its exploration of the film's subject matter, so did I. 

Furthermore, "The Rite" takes itself only half-seriously.  Hollywood movies have long mocked faith and religion, and "The Rite" does so in a playful if distracting way.  It also mocks exorcism, including one bit of dialogue that references "The Exorcist".  With "The Rite" you know when the sudden jolts of fright will come.  The film's cynicism is played up cruelly in three scenes involving Father Lucas.  The convenient placement of stock types (seers, journalists and a victim inhabited by the devil) dominate when they should be relegated in service of the film's two main characters.

The film's smaller roles feature Toby Jones, Ciarán Hinds (effective in last year's supernatural thriller "The Eclipse") and an unrecognizable Rutger Hauer (who looks a little like the filmmaker Werner Herzog in one scene.)  Mr. O'Donoghue, a fine presence in his feature film debut, does very well and is memorable as Michael.  Mr. Hopkins' main function is to ham things up and unleash his inner Hannibal Lecter (from "The Silence Of The Lambs", "Hannibal", "Red Dragon".)  Everyone watching "The Rite" awaits the ham slam.  The menu of items in Mr. Håfström's film needed more appealing appetizers.

Audiences will enjoy "The Rite", but its largely unfilled promise make it an overall let-down.  Beyond the introductory discussions of sin and the devil there's little else to hook into.  With all that occurs, the characters aren't as challenged as they should be.  Even in the film's closing stages, Michael doesn't really confront a meaningful crossroads in his own personal affairs.  By this point "The Rite" effectively subverts itself, ringing hollow.  Evil is turned on and off like The Clapper.  Or the clicking fingers of The Addams Family.  Morticia, are you there?  (Click click.)

With: Alice Braga, Marta Gastini, Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Arianna Veronesi, Andrea Calligari, Chris Marquette, Torrey DeVitto, Ben Cheetham, Marija Karan, Rosa Pianeta.

"The Rite" is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association Of America for disturbing thematic material, violence, frightening images, and language including sexual references.  The film's running time is one hour and 52 minutes. 

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