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Apostle
starring: Todd Allen, Brother Paul Bagget, Lenore Banks, John Beasley, Mary Lynette Braxton

Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9780783226620
Format: Color, NTSC
ISBN: 0783226624
Label: Universal Home Video
Manufacturer: Universal Home Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Universal Home Video
Release Date: August 18, 1998
Running Time: 134 minutes
Sales Rank: 178436
Studio: Universal Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: January 30, 1998

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Editorial Review:

Amazon.com:
Written, directed, and personally financed by Robert Duvall, The Apostle was the culmination of a 14-year effort on the part of its creator, who also stars as the dynamic, God-fearing Texas preacher Euliss 'Sonny' Dewey. Vibrantly authentic with its use of real gospel preachers and extras carefully selected from parishes of the deep South, the film treats its complicated characters with the kind of compassion and moral complexity mainstream Hollywood wouldn't dare muster. This is especially true in the case of Sonny, who responds to his wife's infidelity with a crime of passion that sends him on a new and uncharted quest for redemption. Under the assumed identity of 'The Apostle E.F.,' he settles in a tiny Louisiana town to revive an old church, where he undergoes a transformation of spirit and purpose that enlivens his community. But will the law catch up to him? Does he deserve to be punished? Fueled by Duvall's powerhouse performance, The Apostle refuses to praise or condemn its fascinating central character, leaving the proper degree of forgiveness up to the viewer. Further graced with superb performances by Farrah Fawcett, Miranda Richardson, and Billy Bob Thornton, the film is clearly Duvall's labor of love. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Redemption without repentance? For Apostle E.F., the answer is found here.
It's an amazing movie, one that Robert Duvall acknowledges as a career peak in the accompanying documentary. It's amazing on so many levels that when the long road to financing the film is revealed (Duvall made it on his own dime), you want to look toward Hollywood and ask "What were you THINKING?" He reveals that his award for "Tender Mercies" made him think that a window of opportunity might open. However, "The Apostle" was to remain in Duvall's "theater of the mind" for a few years longer.

The casting is perfect. Walton "Shane Vendrell" Goggins (The Shield) really stands out as Sammy. Duvall discusses Sammy's "born again" scene, saying that Goggin's whole body was shaking as he knelt...it was as if he were actually witnessing a man being born again. Fans of The Shield and its DVD commentaries know that Goggins is the ultimate method actor, isolating himself prior to scenes being filmed, psyching himself ... Read More

Rating:

- strange wondering
This portrayal of a pentecostal preacher is the most realistic I've seen; others have capsuled it, so I won't here. Duvall plays Sonny (the preacher) with such humanness that you can't walk away loving or hating him - or if you can, it'll be both. I could never tell if Sonny was a genuinely God-touched person, or a gifted man making a place for himself in the world through preaching. No single incident in the story played it one way or another. He unquestionably had a gift in bringing people together, giving them purpose and redemption. But he also did some bad things, including (but not the worst), hiding the truth of what he'd done from his congregation. This piece was shown through the character of a young mechanic who overheard Sonny's story as he told it to another preacher, to fairly devastating effect. Every actor's portrayal was great, Duvall's most of all. It asks questions - what does it mean to be human, to suffer, ... Read More

Rating:

- Interesting but NOT great
It really is too bad that it took so long for Robert Duvall to make this movie as I thought he was a too old for his part. At the beginning, I honestly thought those were his GRANDCHILDREN and June Carter Cash was his wife. (Alot of Southern men call their wives "Momma": annoying but true). Duvall plays a VERY VERY flawed haracter. Several reviewers would have you believe that he is somehow "redeemed" at the end. Really? Because he so-called saves Billy Bob Thorntons character and that other young man? Give me a break! Speaking of BBT, he gives an extremely wooden performance, even worse than the too low-key Farrah. The preaching throughout this movie can be spellbinding but the last sermon Duvalls character gives is way too long and how come no one in the congregation notices or seems to care that the cops are there?
While it's not a total waste of time, it's not one I'd watch again.

Rating:

- What Exactly is he Trying to Say?
I am not really sure what to think about this movie. As a Pentecostal myself, I found it to be a good (although slightly exaggerated) portrayal of classic Pentecostalism. However, I am disturbed by Sonny's portrayal. How were we supposed to view him? A hypocrite? A sincere but flawed character? I notice from several reviews that this film is interpreted many different ways, and I can only give it three stars. Great acting, great depiction of Pentecostals, but very ambiguous message.

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