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i 'd rather die today and go to heaven than live to be a hundred and go to hell , " earnestly proclaims the pentecostal preacher .
with that line coming from a fundamentalist christian minister , hollywood has taught us how we should fill in the rest of the story .
he will be turn out to be a scoundrel who has less actual belief in god than the average american , and all of his preaching will turn out to be a cynical ruse to extort money from his naive congregation .
from elmer gantry on , we have learned what to expect when the movies go to church .
well , think again , for the apostle , which robert duvall has wanted to make for over a decade , does not take the usual tack of smearing the minister , and by implication all , the rest of organized religion .
instead it gives us a highly devout man , who certainly has his foibles , but with an absolute dedication to his ministry and his god .
and arguably just as surprising , the good - spirited film is no comedy , even if it does have humorous moments .
instead of levity the picture takes a touchingly serious approach as it introduces us to a world not normally seen in motion pictures .
when in the privacy of his attic , robert duvall , as texas preacher euliss " sonny " dewey , argues sternly with his lord , the scene shares a kinship with emily watson 's character crying out for her god in breaking the waves 's most powerful scene .
the body of the story starts with sonny 's coming upon an horrific auto accident , which is another part of life generally ignored by modern screenwriters .
with his well worn bible in hand , sonny leaps from his car so that he can go pray over and with the accident 's dying victims .
the scowling police officer orders him to go away , and , after he has tried to work his miracles , sonny leaves with a smile in the confidence that he has done the lord 's work .
robert duvall not only gives a moving and realistic performance surely destined to receive an academy award nomination
but is also the film 's director , writer , executive producer , and chief financier .
rarely has a movie been such a labor of love .
with a white suit , peach - colored shirt and tie , and dark sunglasses , sonny looks as much like a rock star as a preacher .
duvall has every movement down pat .
even when he is walking down the street , the ever strutting sonny can not contain his energy .
he dances and claps all the way .
sonny 's churches having more black members than white means that he shares his preaching duties with many deep - voiced black orators , but his rhetoric is always competitive .
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i may be on the devil 's hit - list , but i 'm on god 's mailing list , " he shouts to the congregation in a revival tent .
and they lap it up .
people jump up , scream , " praise the lord ! " and mean it .
the intensity of their shared religious experience is palpable .
but sonny is no saint .
it turns out that he has a wandering eye , which angers his wife jessie , played in a remarkably controlled performance by farrah fawcett .
jessie gets her revenge by taking up with the church 's youth minister and conniving to gain control over sonny 's church , leaving him unemployed .
sonny , letting his temper get the best of him , does something foolish , which causes him to have to leave town and two beloved kids forever .
the bulk of the film occurs in a small , predominately black church in louisiana , which he builds up from a derelict building with no congregation into a remodeled church ( " one way road to heaven : holiness temple " ) with an enthusiastic flock .
in this part he rebaptizes himself as the apostle e .
f .
the apostle is a hard worker willing to take on any odd job necessary to obtain the funds for his church .
he asks his members to tithe , but he gives all of his money .
and his good deeds extend to secret donations of food for the local poor folks .
a man who ca n't stand to be still , he tells one of his friends , " i quit school because i did n't like recess .
" in his new town he meets toosie ( miranda richardson ) , who , like him , has a family that she has n't seen in a while .
his romance with the separated woman , like the rest of the film , does n't follow the standard patterns we have grown to expect from our movies .
billy bob thornton shows up one day playing a local racist and general troublemaker .
his confrontation with the apostle is yet another of show 's many surprising scenes , again breaking many rules and conceptions about what approach deeply religious people might take .
although it probably could n't have ended any other way , the movie does wrap things up nicely .
and do n't miss the sweet epilogue during the film 's closing credits .
a tour de force acting performance by duvall and a surprising and unrelentingly dedicated script makes for an outstanding and moving film .
the apostle runs a little too long at 2 : 12 .
it is rated pg-13 for mild profanity and brief violence and would be fine for kids eleven and up .
Output: P