Even high-church Presbyterians. Though the Apostle is a fiery preacher with a gregarious personality, throughout the film there is no indication that he truly is sorry for his sins and crime. He misses his children and wife, but he feels the need to get on with the work of the Lord. Then you better get on Jesus' mailing list. It's not enough to capture the Southern Pentecostal dialect.
Real ministers talk about real sins and real repentance.
Even when the youth minister dies and the Apostle finds he can't run from his past forever, you aren't convinced he understands the magnitude of what he has done. Because it is easy to confuse style with substance, we need to try to know the heart of a pastor. You could still catch the Sunday afternoon matinee at the Beverly Cinema showing Duvall's film. Don Follis is a campus minister at the University of Illinois. His column appears on Fridays.