The Apostle Movie Review

The Apostle (1997)

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Written by: Robert Duvall
Directed by: Robert Duvall
Starring:  Robert Duvall, John Beasley, Farrah Fawcett, Billy Bob Thornton, June Carter Cash, Miranda Richardson, Walton Goggins
Rated: PG-13

Plot
After his happy life spins out of control, a preacher from Texas changes his name, goes to Louisiana and starts preaching on the radio.

Verdict
Duvall crafts a nuanced character that never reveals his motivations. Is he fervent for God or making up for past transgressions? It's a great performance either way. Pastors are held to a higher standard, which means Sonny just has farther to fall.
Watch it.

Review
This jumps right into who Sonny is. He comes across a roadside accident, sneaks around the cops and witnesses to the young man still trapped in the car. It's a great performance from Duvall after just one scene.

Sonny's idyllic world is broken when he discovers his wife is cheating on him. He's pushed out of his own church and starts drinking. When he crosses paths with his wife's new lover he snaps. You can't justify what he did, but you get it. Pastors are generally held to a higher standard, which means they have farther to fall when they do break. Sonny goes on the run and reinvents himself in Louisiana.

Is he doing all this work to make up for his past transgressions or has the change of scenery renewed his fervor? He's passionate about spreading God's word. He stars a new church and gets a mechanic, a young Walton Goggins, to help him fix a bus to help transport people. Despite all this good he does, what would his congregation think if they discovered he was on the run for murder? That would undo a lot of the good he did, but maybe his plan was to disappear all along, leaving them in the dark. While he helped a lot of people, you wonder what his motivations were though we never find out.

Duvall delivers an amazing performance. It's a great character that's nuanced and conflicted. Duvall has the look and the words. I have to imagine he had some real life inspiration.
This was a project Duvall wrote in the '80s but couldn't get funded. He ended up funding it himself.