TAKE TWO: The Rite (2011)

The Rite

Rated: PG-13

Starring: Colin O’Donoghue, Anthony Hopkins, Alice Braga, Rutger Hauer

Director: Mikael Hafstrom

Chris’ Take: My most anticipated films of the year have taken huge hits and we are not even two months into 2011. The Rite was #9 on my most anticipated films, and while I wasn’t expecting a whole lot from it, I certainly expected more than the lopsided effort from Mikael Hafstrom.

To escape the oppression of his father’s funeral home, Michael Kovak (Colin O’Donoghue) decides to go to Catholic seminary. After his 4 years, he still struggles from lack of faith, so he is sent to an exorcism school in the Vatican. While he is there, the instructor (Ciaran Hinds) places him under the unorthodox tutelage of Father Trevant (Anthony Hopkins). As Michael views the exorcism process up close, his doubts begin to dwindle and his faith is ultimately challenged when he comes face to face with true evil.

The film clocks in at about two hours, but really takes an hour and a half to get around to anything interesting. A lot of the film’s problems stem from this tragedy of pacing. Mikael Hafstrom showed his skill at maintaining a feverish psychological atmosphere in 1408, and while there are glimpses of that in this film, particularly during one scene at a hostel, they aren’t maintained enough to truly disturb the viewer.

Maybe Hafstrom would've felt more at home if the whole film took place in a hotel room.

Instead Hafstrom, fills his time going for cheap and jolting thrills instead of bringing anything smart or innovative to the screen.  

Anthony Hopkins, as usual, is brilliant. The man just knows how to create interesting characters out of a mediocre script. His perfection at inflecting at all the right points in a sentence really shines through in his performance, and this really was his most disturbing role since playing Hannibal Lecter. The problem for Hopkins is that he is surrounded by weak actors in every scene; his genius gets lost in those around him. O’Donaghue did well in the climax of the film, but unfortunately spent the rest of the film making me not give two hoots about his character, making even his best moments seem hollow. The only other people who could match acting ability with Hopkins, Hauer and Hinds, were kept far away from him. I do have to say that Marta Gastini, an Italian actress, who played the part of a possessed pregnant girl, gave an incredible performance. But, like a lot of other good parts of the film, her scenes were too few and far between.

Do you see that man behind me? Could you give him acting lessons?

There was nothing incredibly spectacular in the artistry of the film. I expected a little bit more than the exorcism films of late, and while it was slightly better, it wasn’t anything too noticeable. The cinematography was predictable and the sounds were primarily centered around a persistent rumbling, similar to that of the demon in Paranormal Activity, but was unable to convey the sense of dread that they were going for.

While it was better than most exorcism efforts of the last ten years, it still fell far short of the precedent of other demonic possession films such as The Omen and The Exorcist. I do enjoy a good religious horror film, but they are grasping at straws to be disturbing and maybe it is time to go back to the drawing board to bring life back to this dying genre.

• Performances: Hopkins and Gastini (A-) Everyone Else (C)
• Cinematography: B-
• Directing: C+
• Plot: C+
• Characters: C
• OVERALL: C+

Pac’s Take:  The Rite is a complete rollercoaster ride.  Wait around for an hour and a half, a few moments of ramp up, a quick moment of excitement, and all of a sudden the ride is over.  Even an Anthony Hopkins ride-a-long couldn’t save the pacing of this movie.  I understand that characterization is essential to a film, but there’s only so much time you need to spend on developing a pessimistic priest with daddy issues before you begin to beat a dead mule.

The most interesting part of the entire film was Hopkin’s character, which was not on-screen for all that much of the film.  Even before his possession, his interactions with the possessed girl (Gastani) were gripping even despite the fact that Michael Kovak (O’Donoghue) was also taking up space in the scene.  Kovak was once rumored to be up for the part of Superman in the upcoming Man of Steel and it may have been his lifeless performance in this film that led to Cavill’s casting.  There were scenes when his performance (or lack there of) was not as noticeable, but that can probably be attributed to increased cinematic suspense, or the other actors on-screen (namely Hopkins) carrying him through. 

By the grace of God Colin O’Donoghue, I absolve you of this performance

It is unfortunate that the first of my most anticipated films of 2010 fell short of the bar I set for it, but hopefully as the months go on the quality of work will only get better.  It is February after all, a notoriously slow month for movie releases, and apparently plot progression.

 

• Performances: B-
• Cinematography: B-
• Directing: C-
• Plot: C
• Characters: C-
• OVERALL: C