Overrated and overhyped

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Having lived in and adapted to a number of cultures around the world, I found myself amazed at the variety of interpretations that could be applied to this film depending on which flavor of Koolaid you had been drinking most recently. The depiction of fundamentalist Christians was spot on - the good, the bad, and the ugly. If this film has a flaw, it may be that it is too ambiguous. It does not condemn the judgment of a congregation who worships a semi-charlatan nor really justify the actions of a woman who has been used and manipulated by a sweet-talking devil. As such, it perpetuates a lot of the mythology that continues to allow charismatic Christianity to flourish, and does the parts of the country still under thrall to this a disservice. To the extent that it exposes the evil that the hero worship of very human and flawed leaders - who profess direct contact and support from divinity - can do, it is a pretty good flick.

An excellent take on charismatic, evangelical Christianity. An imperfect man with faith. Why wouldn't exposure of his wife's adultery challenged her ability to take over the church? I never understood why did he go and start a new church when he was avoiding the murder charges. Why did Sonny attempt a relationship with the new lady in Louisiana? Wouldint his new woman be adultery since he yet to be formally divorced? He seems to have been aware of the inevitable. Was he on a mission of redemption before he face the inevitable punishment? Was he addicted to the prestige and sense of purpose he had as a minister? Why did he fight so hard to build the new church?

Generally I place entertainment at the top of my list for enjoying a film. Although the acting by Robert Duvall is terrific, the movie fails as entertainment. Two plus hours of what seemed like one long church sermon is close to unbearable. Duvall's character is anything but sympathetic, considering his violent solutions, religious brain wiring of the gullible, and outrageous showmanship. He simply comes across as a religious huckster. I can truthfully say that for me, "The Apostle" was a huge disappointment. I'm sure that to the correct audience it will be vastly appealing. Not recommended here however. .............................. MERK

I have always appreciated Robert Duvall as an actor, but everything he's ever done pales in comparison to his performance as "The Apostle E.F." in this movie. Duvall carried this from beginning to end. The rest of the cast was good, but this belonged to Duvall. He perfectly captured the essence of a charismatic, fundamentalist holiness-type preacher, and was totally convincing in the role. There are a lot of issues that come through in this movie. One is the ease with which a charismatic (in both the secular and spiritual sense) charlatan can capture the minds and souls of those around him. Having said that, E.F. is a more complicated character than that. Yes, he was charismatic and yes he could manipulate, but the character (to me at least) had a fundamental integrity to him. He was sincere in what he was doing. He loved Jesus; he loved the church; he loved the people in the church. I bought into that - I believed it. And, yes, he was a sinner - he was a womanizer who then went on - in a fit of anger - to kill the man for whom his wife had left him. Terrible things, but they came across as human rather than hypocritical. Strangely, even the fact the E.F. was a murderer didn't seem to take away from his fundamental decency. On the run after committing the murder, he establishes a new church in a small town in Louisiana and again he captures people's hearts and turns them toward God, and even at the end of the movie, in a prison chain gang, he captures the hearts of the other prisoners and turns them toward God - and I never doubted that he was wanting to do that. He wasn't doing this to glorify himself; he was doing it for what he perceived to be the glory of God. And I believed that.As a very mainline Christian pastor who has some suspicion of charismatic preachers, it wasn't easy to convince me of E.F.'s sincerity - but Duvall did. That was the brilliance not only of his performance but of the movie as a whole. Whether in personal repentance or in leading someone through a conversion experience, E.F. was real. Thank you to Robert Duvall for this powerful performance.The movie had flaws. For the first few minutes I was confused about the relationships here. Maybe I didn't pay enough attention, but I honestly thought E.F.'s mother was his wife and that Farrah Fawcett was playing his daughter and the kids were his grandchildren. I was thrown a bit when Fawcett turned out to be playing his wife who had left him and taken his children away from him. I also thought that the "play-by-play" radio commentary from the church picnic of the bigot's conversion experience was just downright silly. But there weren't many weaknesses. Duvall's performance, the essential dignity he provided the character with and the overall realism of the film makes this a must-see!