THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
The journeys we take/make and change us for better or worse. In Father Stu, I don’t sound wrong when I identify it as one for the better.
PLOT
The film tells the life of Stuart Long. He has a rift with his parents Kathleen and Bill (the latter of which is alcoholic) since the death of his brother Stephen. Originally in the beginning of his adult life, he was very talented as an amateur boxer, but had to stop after undergoing a jaw surgery. Not wanting to give up on success, he aspires to become an actor, which appears to go nowhere as he only gets infomercials. While making ends meet by working at a grocery store, he becomes awestruck meeting a woman named Carmen. She is a Catholic who volunteers as a Sunday School teacher. Stu would make his advances, but she would turn him and would only consider giving him a chance if he was baptized. He quickly agrees to do it and during his RCIA process, he befriends Ham (Aaron Clifton Moten) and Jacob (the latter of which looks down on him). After he officially gets baptized, he starts dating Carmen. When he starts facing discouragement upon the release of his infomercial, he gets so drunk that he gets into a car accident that severely injured him. When unconscious, he gets a vision from the Blessed Mother to tell him not to die in vain. After recovering, he feels called to priesthood and wants to become a priest. He tells Carmen his plan, but this breaks her heart as she thought he would propose, along with knowing that it’s a Catholic tradition for priests to not marry. His parents are against it as well, but not even they can convince him to change his mind. After being first rejected by the seminar, he gets accepted by appealing to the rector in person. During his time in the seminar, in which Ham and Jacob are fellow seminarians, he would be diagnosed with a rare muscular disease known as ‘Inclusion Body Myositis’. This would be a surprise due to how rare it would be for young people like himself to be diagnosed. When Carmen visits him, now engaged to another man, she shows nothing but support to his vocation. When Stu starts losing use of his hands, the rector Monsignor Kelly (Malcolm McDowell) sites him to be unable to be ordained. Although he moves back home to be taken care of by his parents, he eventually gets to be ordained, thanks to a petition by Carmen’s church to the Diocese of Helena. After being ordained, Stu would be confined to a nursing facility where he would continue his ministry. Bill’s reconnection with his son inspires him to attend Alcoholics Anonymous and confess that his neglect/absence makes him feel responsible for his condition. The film would the end with an epilogue, revealing that Stu passed away in 2014 at the age of 50.
THOUGHTS
Now living in a post pandemic era as of writing this, we definitely needed movies with a new set of motivation and/or inspiration. So I found myself pretty grateful when Writer Rosalind Ross provided such an empowering story. In her directorial debut, she succeeds in speaking to the audience to have faith that things will get better. No matter how broken you think you feel, there is no deadline to forgive and redeem yourself. This message is at its strongest whenever we focus on the incredible performance of Mark Wahlberg, who is indeed at his most transformative. As the titular lead, we saw that Stu was a man who went through hell and back to find his calling and even when becoming extremely vulnerable, he didn't lose his faith but made it stronger instead. He gained a second chance after his accident and chose to not waste it. And after spending the rest of his life having opportunity giving people much needed guidance, he was able to not die in vain. The scene that moved me the most was when connecting to Jacob through confession. Throughout, Cody Fern showed the fellow priest as one who also had his own chip on the shoulder. A part of him loved God, but gave up his life to priesthood to impress his father. He never felt satisfied with his actions, but Stu taught him loving God is enough. To me, that shows every decision we choose to make will be worth it in the long run. Although Stu's story was about him healing, he wasn't the only one that needed it. When you look at Jacki Weaver's Kathleen, she was scared nonstop for the sake of her last son, wanting him to enjoy his life without getting hurt. As time went on, she accepted that he is his own man and can't change him as she pleases. As for Mel Gibson's Bill, he was twice as broken compared to his son because after losing Stephen, he didn't know how to share what was left of his heart. But seeing the journey Stu chose to take, he felt inspired to do right as much as he can. It moved me to see him get sober and confess of his sins because even he understood there's no deadline to be better. As shown, Stu wouldn't even make this path without finding love through Carmen. Portrayed greatly by Teresa Ruiz, she was someone who taught him that the door is open for anyone to be loved (by God). She gave him a chance within their time together because she is the first one to see how big his heart always was. Even though she moved on, she'll never stop appreciating Stu for teaching her to be open minded. In short, Father Stu is a good film for giving audiences the much needed hope. If you're still looking for your own set of it, look no further because this one provides.
留言