THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 13, 1995 TAG: 9505130025
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
THERE IS NO question that young, earnest Father Greg means to do the right thing. When we see him entering his new, working-class parish in Liverpool, he comes across as orthodox to the extreme.
He frowns when he learns his fellow priest, the older, more worldly Father Matthew, is having an affair with the presbytery's housekeeper. Clearly, Father Greg is subjugating his own humanity in an effort to meet the requirements of his calling. It is a struggle he must face again and again.
``Priest'' confronts religious traumas in a head-on manner that is candid, but hardly bold. Nor is it blasphemous or shocking. Rather, it raises questions of commitment in a way that hasn't been done quite so earnestly since the memorable ``The Nun's Story'' starring Audrey Hepburn.
The turning point comes when Father Greg changes his collar for a leather jacket, meets a young man at a bar and has immediate, but not so casual, sex. Graham doesn't know his lover is a priest, but it comes to a confrontation when he attends mass and attempts to take communion. Father Greg refuses to absolve him, despite the fact that they eventually fall in love.
``Priest,'' as directed by Antonia Bird, gets into a number of inflammatory areas of theological discussion, then quickly pulls back into simplistic soap opera. It deserves credit for raising challenging questions but falls far short of real greatness because it essentially preaches to the converted.
Pointedly, and almost endlessly, Father Greg does penance. When his sexual preference - when the existence of any sexual persuasion at all - is discovered, he is roundly condemned while the indiscretions of Father Matthew are all but given the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. Hypocrisy clearly exists here.
A subplot involves a teenage girl who confesses to Father Greg that her father has been molesting her for years. The priest wants to do something about it, but he knows the secrets of the confessional are sacred. When the father's sins are made public, Father Greg is condemned by the girl's mother for his silence.
Things reach a melodramatic low when a tune from ``Carousel'' shows up on the soundtrack, chiming ``When you walk through a storm, hold your head up high . . . You'll never walk alone.'' It is at moments like this that we fear Bird has gone too far - not in challenging or threatening us, but in cajoling us. She lets us off too easily.
The heat is turned on, though, when Greg bitterly questions his faith. Some might see this single scene as blasphemous; others, with more reason, might see a soul in search. In either case, it is the film's most riveting moment.
Linus Roache turns in a believable performance as Father Greg. He has the kind of charisma that could easily make him a star.
``Priest'' clearly wants to be an entertainment, maybe more than it wants to inflame. Its stance is too safe, its ending predictable. Still, it brings up basic questions about theology. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
MOVIE REVIEW
``Priest''
Cast: Linus Roache, Tom Wilkinson, Cathy Tyson
Director: Antonia Bird
MPAA rating: R (mature theme, nudity)
Mal's rating: 3 stars
Locations: Naro in Norfolk; Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach
by CNB