break out your Roman Rites, kids!
If Anthony Hopkins had a film in which he basically read his grocery list, I would attend. Throw in priests and demons and I'll be there opening weekend (of course!).
The Rite is one of those strange semi-propaganda films about the perils of denying the presence of evil in the 21st century. It falls under the same header as The Exorcism of Emily Rose. A young woman is possessed, a young priest questions the veracity of the diagnosis, all hell breaks loose (literally), converting everyone to the happy conclusion that there is a necessary yin and yan of God and the devil and that belief in one presupposes the belief in the other. Or something like that.
I enjoyed this.
Anthony Hopkins as the slightly doddering old priest Father Lucas is a treat. The plot is predictable, mostly, and follows the formula you would expect in such a film, but it's engaging nevertheles and Rutger Hauer as the protagonist's father is likewise a joy unto himself. I found myself poking at the cracks in the plot, but the film's weaknesses didn't detract enough to sideline me completely. And the cinematography is lovely: Italy is charming and ancient, the devil is scary without growing horns, and mostly everything is played in a believable fashion.
The depiction of the Church is rather detached. Faith is handled in a positive way and the Church is treated on the micro-level (perhaps as it should be): this priest, this parish, this experience. Some may find the climactic showdown to be a wee bit hokey ~ I have a sense that it plays better on the big screen than it will on a television set, but you'll have to decide for yourself whether you want to burp up five bucks to watch it (it's worth a matinee, I think).
One of these days someone will write a cool television series about an exorcist. This is the kind of film that would make a good pilot.
: D