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mark.waltz Over zealous Christians are going to mist likely take this drama about a Pentecostal preacher as a slap in the face of passionate, soul-saving organized religion. It takes a slam dunk look at the way big religion has dumped an over powering feel of judgmentalism on the typical sinner who has turned their backs on religion, either worshiping independently or becoming atheist, agnostic or even involved in satanism. It is Robert Duvall's powerful performance that guides this character study of a flawed man who may have done more harm than good, needing to open his eyes to his own missing spiritual deficiencies and view the world through a larger telescope rather than the binoculars of obsessive bible thumping that doesn't understand the damage it has caused.I have begun to believe that obsessive Christianity is a step to madness, taking on hot topics in sometimes violent ways. Committing sins to stop sins, so to speak, all through as they say over "Holy ghost power". Duvall is certainly on the verge of losing his sanity, like he does with his own church, tossed out for living in sin with equally religious Farrah Fawcett. Duvall continues to pray and praise as he walks down the street, and while that's not enough to make him certifiable, his open sinning yet preaching against similar transgressions. The worship scenes can get rather uncomfortable, reminding me of why I turned to independent spirituality rather than the big halls that had such foot stomping energy that it would make a rise on the Richter scale.In spite of my own personal uncomfortable feeling towards these over the top forms of worship that go way too far. "No speaking in tongues!", the radio station manager warns Duvall when he convinces him to take him on as a religious talk show host. Duvall's journey becomes intriguing to watch, and that's what makes this film less cringe-worthy. This didn't convince me to return to public worship, but it didn't dissuade me from my spiritual emotions, either.

jfarms1956 The Apostle will primarily appeal to those 30 and older. Robert Duvall is the only reason for seeing this movie. Otherwise, I found this movie extremely boring and slow. Robert Duvall's performance makes this movie worth watching to see terrific acting. This is my third preaching movie seen today. I think that I am all preached out. This is a good movie to see in the afternoon if you want to stay awake for the entire film. I usually enjoy watching Robert Duvall in his movie roles. This role makes him both a villain and a hero. Most of the time I remember Robert Duvall as mostly the villain in a movie. Bring plenty of munchies for this film. Enjoy.

Wuchak "The Apostle" (1997) is a film that I've appreciated more as I've gotten older. Writer/director Robert Duvall had to make it independently because studios didn't want to touch the material. The story's a character study of a Southern Pentecostal preacher, Sonny (Duvall), whose wife wants to leave him due to his infidelities (Farrah Fawcett). She now has a relationship with the youth minister and they're taking over the mega-church in the Dallas suburbs. Sonny reacts foolishly and is forced into exile. He changes his name and goes into the backwaters of Louisiana to eventually start a rural church that attracts the poor. Wherever Sonny goes, he can't seem to part with his "calling" and "anointing" -- to lead people to the LORD and motivate believers.If you can't handle Pentecostalism and all that goes with it -- hyper praise & worship, charismatic gifts, evangelism and prayer -- I suggest staying far away from "The Apostle." I also suggest you stay away if you're not into seeing depictions of Southern poverty or nigh-poverty since large portions of the film take place in this environment.Duvall's idea was to do a modern take on the King David tragedy -- a man of God who falls into adultery and, then, possibly murder, albeit unintentional. Even so, Duvall stated in a 2010 interview that Sonny's sins aren't half as bad as David's since there's a huge difference between involuntary manslaughter and outright (indirect) murder."The Apostle" is the greatest kind of character study because it evokes strong opinions and discussions. Is Sonny a genuine but seriously flawed minister or just a phony who doesn't know it? Put another way, can a Christian be a "man (or woman) after God's own heart" and still commit serious sins? Does Sonny legitimately repent or does he evade repentance? Is the theology presented in the film shallow or heavy? Is resorting to righteous anger or corporeal punishment sometimes appropriate for the New Testamen believer or should Christians always be lovey-dovey doormats? FINAL WORD: There's nothing like "The Apostle" in cinema. It's truly a unique film and it gets better with repeat viewings because a lot of what is conveyed is subtle and wordless. There's just the right amount of ambiguity that keeps the viewer guessing and the movie open to interpretation.GRADE: A

sddavis63 I have always appreciated Robert Duvall as an actor, but everything he's ever done pales in comparison to his performance as "The Apostle E.F." in this movie. Duvall carried this from beginning to end. The rest of the cast was good, but this belonged to Duvall. He perfectly captured the essence of a charismatic, fundamentalist holiness-type preacher, and was totally convincing in the role. There are a lot of issues that come through in this movie. One is the ease with which a charismatic (in both the secular and spiritual sense) charlatan can capture the minds and souls of those around him. Having said that, E.F. is a more complicated character than that. Yes, he was charismatic and yes he could manipulate, but the character (to me at least) had a fundamental integrity to him. He was sincere in what he was doing. He loved Jesus; he loved the church; he loved the people in the church. I bought into that - I believed it. And, yes, he was a sinner - he was a womanizer who then went on - in a fit of anger - to kill the man for whom his wife had left him. Terrible things, but they came across as human rather than hypocritical. Strangely, even the fact the E.F. was a murderer didn't seem to take away from his fundamental decency. On the run after committing the murder, he establishes a new church in a small town in Louisiana and again he captures people's hearts and turns them toward God, and even at the end of the movie, in a prison chain gang, he captures the hearts of the other prisoners and turns them toward God - and I never doubted that he was wanting to do that. He wasn't doing this to glorify himself; he was doing it for what he perceived to be the glory of God. And I believed that.As a very mainline Christian pastor who has some suspicion of charismatic preachers, it wasn't easy to convince me of E.F.'s sincerity - but Duvall did. That was the brilliance not only of his performance but of the movie as a whole. Whether in personal repentance or in leading someone through a conversion experience, E.F. was real. Thank you to Robert Duvall for this powerful performance.The movie had flaws. For the first few minutes I was confused about the relationships here. Maybe I didn't pay enough attention, but I honestly thought E.F.'s mother was his wife and that Farrah Fawcett was playing his daughter and the kids were his grandchildren. I was thrown a bit when Fawcett turned out to be playing his wife who had left him and taken his children away from him. I also thought that the "play-by-play" radio commentary from the church picnic of the bigot's conversion experience was just downright silly. But there weren't many weaknesses. Duvall's performance, the essential dignity he provided the character with and the overall realism of the film makes this a must-see!