February 11, 1998

The Apostle E.F. is loud, manic, driven, charismatic, sincere, sympathetic, spiritual, maddening, violent, sweet, needy - in short, a man (or more precisely, a human). Robert Duvall has created a fascinating and multi-faceted character in The Apostle, a film which Mr. Duvall wrote, produced and directed himself. Mr. Duvall fully deserves the Academy Award nomination that he received for his performance. The film itself is unpredictable, well-written and a true, rich study of a complicated character. I enjoyed and truly admired this film.

The Apostle E.F., also known as Sonny Dewey, begins the film as a Pentecostal minister in Texas. Sonny and his wife, Jessie (Farrah Fawcett), jointly run their church - Sonny is the evangelist, and Jessie is in charge of the music. When Jessie becomes involved with the congregation's youth minister and leaves Sonny, he beats the minister with a baseball bat in a moment of anger. Not knowing whether or not he has killed his rival, Sonny hits the road.

Once on the road, Sonny listens for direction from God, and acts according to the direction he perceives. Sonny baptizes himself as "the Apostle E.F." and ends up in a Louisiana bayou town where he organizes a new church, develops a romantic interest in a local woman (Miranda Richardson), and saves a few souls.

The film moves at a leisurely pace, which allows us to observe Sonny/E.F. very closely. We see, and hear, him grapple with God and man. We watch and empathize with his struggle to remain true to his Christian ideals, while he knows full well that he is subject to human emotions and temptations. Like most people, sometimes Sonny/E.F. succeeds in meeting his ideals, and sometimes he succumbs to his temptations. The film questions our tendency to judge people by their worst moments by presenting Sonny/E.F. as a full character. We understand that he is a man capable of great good as well as thoughtless violence.

The film does not focus on religion per se, but uses it as a vehicle by which to observe Sonny/E.F. Sonny/E.F. is first, last and always a preacher and a believer in the Christian God. Given the general negativism in film toward religion, and priests/preachers in particular, it felt refreshing to see a film about a preacher who honestly believes in his God (and is not driven by money or sex). I found the scenes where Sonny/E.F. preaches, both on his own and with other preachers, fascinating. In one scene where Sonny preaches in tandem with several other preachers, I was reminded of rap music, where each rapper develops his rap by building on the preceding raps of the other performers.

Departing from another general trend in contemporary film, The Apostle presents an optimistic view of human nature. On the road, Sonny/E.F. depends upon the kindness of strangers to survive, and he finds this kindness in abundance from many people.

Ultimately, The Apostle delivers a very effective and engaging tale of sin and redemption. All of the performances hit right on the mark. June Carter Cash as Sonny/E.F.'s mother and Billy Bob Thornton as a menacing troublemaker are particularly effective. However, The Apostle is Robert Duvall's film, both as a writer and an actor, and he demonstrates true passion about his character. The Apostle is an intelligent, insightful and rewarding moviegoing experience.

Mary Walsh My husband, Erik, and I are recent transplants from New England. We live in Longwood with our two cats, Ellie (from Damiel, the angel in the German film Wings of Desire) and Phineas, otherwise known as Blackie (which describes both his fur and his soul). Being childless, by choice, these are our substitutes, and we never miss a chance to discuss them as such, much to the annoyance of our friends with children. We lead very exciting lives, something like jet-setters, except that we rarely travel, don't go out much and both prefer to read or watch films (although Erik also likes professional wrestling, which he continually refers to as our country's second great art form, after jazz). Other Articles I've Written