Movie Review: The Rite

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Will the start of the year doldrums please hurry up and get over! I posted out via Twitter and Facebook whether I should see The Mechanic or The Rite. The response was to go see The Rite and Anthony Hopkins came up as a reason. OK, that's a good reason, he's a wonderful actor. It also had the earlier of the two show times which is always a plus in my book.

So movie begins and with the credits, any time there was a letter "T" they turned it into a cross except when the word had two. When that happened, only one "T" turned into a cross. So we get the idea that the movie is going to have something to do with religion. For the first quarter of the movie we don't even see Anthony Hopkins. We're given the back story of Michael Kovak (Colin O'Donoghue) a young man who has retreated to the seminary to get away from his dad and the family mortuary business.

Michael before final vows to become a priest is sent to Rome to learn about exorcism. The Pope wants to make sure that there are plenty of exorcists to go around. One of the justifications for sending him? Because of the family business he won't be squeamish like other candidates would be. The problem? He's not sure of his faith. So to help with his belief level Michael is sent by Father Xavier (Ciarán Hinds) who is heading up the teaching program to visit Father Lucas Trevant there in Rome.

So we finally get to see Sir Anthony Hopkins as Father Trevant. He's living in a run down villa surrounded by cats. He's not the crazy old cat man, but one has to wonder as you watch him. So the man of faith and the man of questionable faith meet. When a mother and her pregnant teenage daughter visit Father Trevant, Michael wonders if instead of being possessed she just needs a good psychologist. Michael was asked if he was expecting pea soup and the girls head to start spinning around as proof of possession, an obvious reference to the classic movie, The Exorcist.

Michael isn't sure what to make of everything. In class he meets Angelia (Alice Braga), a reporter who is covering the class. She's trying to make sense of what happened in her own family with her brother. Was it sickness or possession? The two seem to be in the same river at the same time paddling in the same direction just in different boats.

Eventually the good father himself gets possessed and it's up to Michael with Angelia's help to save Father Trevant. But does Michael believe? If you don't believe in the devil and his evil, how can you believe in God and his good? But if the devil exists that would mean that God is real too. When confronted will faith and belief step forward or will it be easier to turn and walk away?

As with exorcism movies you'd expect scenes contain disturbing thematic material, violence, frightening images, and language including sexual references which earned the movie a PG-13 rating for the 112 minute running time. There was only one scene that made me jump in my seat. The rest of the movie was blase. As I told one person: been there, seen that, bought the t-shirt. So please have faith in me when I tell you to keep the money in your pocket for this one.

The Movie Monkey

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