El milagro del padre Stu

Father Stu

This was a good old fashion story of redemption. Mark Wahlberg played Stuart Long a washed up boxer who really hits rock bottom after a dreadful accident.

Stu sees his life being spared as a message and a call to the priesthood. There were some clunky moments but mostly these were the scripts writers fault and perhaps needing editing out.

We had some great acting and some brilliant cameos. Like a Tom Cruise or Liam Neeson movie Mark Wahlberg always delivers a strong and committed characterisation. I think he is long overdue for an Oscar winning role.

Overall I enjoyed this movie and it's a firm 6 outta 10 from me.

This isn't exactly a bio-pic, it leaves lots of things out and fictionalizes a few things, but it is a mostly true account of Stuart Long who grew up as a crude, rough and tumble type of athlete and high-ranking boxer in Montana.

At some point he decides to go to Los Angeles and become an actor. With no real preparation and no plan he is a bust. Then after losing his drivers license and resorting to a motorcycle for transportation, he is in an accident that almost kills him. However through it all has a religious experience and decides to become a Catholic priest.

His road is never easy, and things go from pretty bad to a lot worse. Still through discernment and a stroke of good fortune he became a priest at the age of 34. He developed a novel way to connect with people.

My wife and I watched it at home on DVD from our public library. Good movie and the actors are all first-rate in their roles, especially Wahlberg and Gibson.

This movie is funnier than the ads will have you believe.

The story is of a amateur (to put it kindly) boxer who is scrappy in life. He's told often that he can't do something or that life gives him hardship and his stubborn streak kicks in. To a lot of people, his persistence is read as silly and frustrating. To a lot of people he should be beaten to death in an alley somewhere in some small rural town he hails from. Until a fateful night which puts a lot of his life in perspective. Unfortunately, I don't feel that moment is enough to generate the turn of the cheek. But, writer/director Rosalind Ross was smart enough to show how little Stuart actually changes. He instead uses his blue-collar nastiness for good rather than evil. Funny to me, to say the least. I wish they would've played more in that world. Where people expect him to be pious and uptight but ends up being a thug in a collar. There may have been extra chuckles to be mined there, ala Harrison Ford getting ice cream on his face in "Witness."

Well, the structure itself isn't anything new. And if you've seen a redemption story, you know what follows. But Mark Wahlberg does an exceptional job getting into the attitude of Stu. In a wild universe, he is Dirk Diggler grown up and trying to find salvation. Mirroring him is Mel Gibson, who plays his father who has his own moment of goodness. It's not much, but it is enough.

Yes, there are a few moments that get heavy handed. That's not to say, these things didn't occur in real life. Stu is brash, and edgy and punch-drunk dumb. He goes with the theory that he doesn't know until someone tells him it's wrong, then he doubles down. His logic is that if Christ wanted him alive, it must be that he wants him to double down for him.

I've no doubt that director Ross, whom is in a relationship with Mel Gibson, tapped the lighter side of the situation. In different hands, this plays as a broad parody. This was reigned in enough for it to hit where it needs to. Speaking of which...Jackie Weaver is such a blessing to watch. She embraces dialogue that would fall flat coming out of most actors' mouths and hits the right beats. Completely nails the humor beats without knowing she is funny. She is the quintessential White trash mom with a kind heart. She has a lot of darkness in her, but they do such a brilliant thing...and not make that the centralized burden to her life. She presses forward and referees two bulls. Though she is separated from her husband Mel, she harbors the right degree of resentment to a former relationship. The dynamics of their family are very clear.

Any way, this is a surprisingly funny flick. I found myself laughing many times at some of the absurdity that occurs. Special shout-out to Teresa Ruiz who plays the love interest. She is warm, kind and when things go wrong, does exhibit the proper reaction and emotions. She is fantastic in this!

Go check it out. I think you're going to be surprised.

Stick around for a hilarious scene during credits.

Truth is stranger than fiction. I enjoyed the film but wish there had been subtitles. Sometimes some of the characters mumbled so much that even though there were extreme close ups with no distractions, many times I was unable to understand what was being said. I began to wonder if there was something wrong with my ability to follow the movie until afterward when I went in the restroom, I heard everyone in there saying the same thing. Probably some of the problem might have had to do with unfamiliar slang but most of it was the way the words were enunciated. Don't let that stop you from seeing it though. It is still worth seeing.

I very much enjoyed this film and don't understand why it is rated as low as it is by critics. It is definitely Wahlberg's best performance of the films I've seen. The other performance I liked was Gibson. He plays his father and is a alcoholic due to the loss of his youngest son and drinks the trauma away. He plays the role so well and I really sympathised with him, cared deeply for his character and wanted him to rekindle his connection with his son Stu. His performance reminds me of Nick Nolte in Warrior who also plays a broken and drunken father. The overall plot was engaging and never felt dragged out, this was due to there being a decent amount of screen time of each major part of his life. This for me made the changes he goes through feel even more powerful because as soon as you understand more about this character a life changing event happens to Stu and he progresses as a character even further. The cinematography was pretty standard with some nice shots here and there but for the most part it was what you would expect for a Hollywood film.

I think everyone would enjoy this film especially since it's based on a true story which always hooks me in a whole lot more for a film of this theme.