Too much of everything

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Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

I didn't realize at first how long ago this documentary was initially released. It was interesting, but what really surprised me was to find out that Mother Delores' fiancé never moved on and kept in touch all those years. What really saddened me, however, was to read one of the news articles connected with this film and find out that he passed away before it was released. It makes the scene of their visit in the film, especially when her eyes watered, that much more poignant.

This HBO short documentary entitled "God Is The Bigger Elvis" is about the life of Dolores Hart.Dolores happens to be a prominent young actress back in the late 1950's and early 1960's and the leading lady of rock n' roll icon Elvis Presley's first film "Loving You".This also happens to be her film debut as well back in 1958 that started a very promising acting career.But in 1963,she gave up the career in Hollywood and broke up the engagement to her boyfriend architect Don Robinson and decided to become a Benedictine nun.Her faith and love of God as a Roman Catholic was stronger rather than pursue an acting career and to marry the man that she was engaged with.This short documentary examines everything from he current life as the Mother Prioress;the status of the career that she has left;the examination of the decision that she made; and the current relationship with the man that she was suppose to marry.It was a joy to watch as Mother Dolores exhibits detachment from this world as she offered everything up to God by giving up the temporal rewards of fame,money and success an acting career could have given her.It also presents the life of the semi-cloistered nun inside the monastery which shows the very different life that they live which is defined by prayer,silence,service and contemplation that is very much different to the modern world.It also presents the struggles that Mother Dolores experienced during her early years as well as the current novices who are trying to be a nun. It will definitely allow viewers to see a glimpse of monastic life and possibly realize of how much people will do everything to allow God to become a major part of their life.Finally,it also allow viewers to examine the amount of love and faith that they currently have with Lord.

I have a hard time distinguishing a cloistered life from a Manson cult. It has the same mental illness, the same self-hatred, the same power figure, and the same denial of reality. It is quite possible to live simply and close to nature without the trappings of an organization with rules, rituals, and rites. Only when life is "too much" for you is there a temptation to give up. But giving up it is, make no mistake.I remember a drinking game called Cardinal Puff. It required an exact routine. If you made a mistake, you had to drink up and start over. It had as much meaning as the cloistered routine.It made me sad to see that Ms. Hart gave up on life and mental health, but also very happy that she is content with her choices. The true thing is that we have to reconcile ourselves to the choices we make. She has done so.

God Is Bigger Than Elvis (2012) *** (out of 4) Oscar-nominated documentary taking a look at the life and career of Dolores Hart. The title, and the film's main focus, centers on Hart walking away from a good career in Hollywood and becoming a nun. Hart is probably best remembered for her role with Elvis in LOVING YOU and this 36-minute documentary interviews her about working with the star, other Hollywood people and why she gave it up to become a nun. Looking around the internet it seems this film has gained quite a bit of praise by people who respect Hart for giving up a career to become a nun but there's another group of people out there that seem to really hate her and the story told here. It's interesting that a film such as this can have such strong views by two opposite sides but I guess this happens when religion is involved. For the most part I found the documentary to be interesting and especially the early stuff with Hart in Hollywood. I thought the Elvis stories were quite nice and it was also interesting hearing about where her career might have gone had she not had a change of heart. It's also interesting hearing from the man she was supposed to marry and he talks about his heart being broken when he got the news that she was going to join the abbey.