emuir-1
I watched it to the end, which is more than I can say for some films. My major gripe, other than that California does not look at all like Massachusetts, was the poor plotting and the one-note characters.The priest himself could have asked for confession and advice from his superior about what to do.The police work by the obsessed Catholic School hating detective was so abysmal that even a fresh out of law school public defender would have had the case thrown out of court. For example, Luke had been caught with a locker full of drugs and porn. Why did the priest who copped him not say so to the detective, and why did the detective not ask him where he had obtained it. Why did the priest not tell the detective right up front that Luke was being expelled for being caught with illegal drugs. This would have revealed that Luke would dress as a priest to get drugs without prescriptions from the pharmacy. Instead we got priests keeping their mouths shut and a detective determined to find a priest guilty and ignore all other evidence. Soap opera plotting. It would not have surprised me if Luke had turned out to be the secret son of the detective and the mother superior.As a starter film this was OK, after all, everyone has to begin somewhere, but it could have done with a little tightening up.
Tss5078
This B-Movie gem is the first leading role for Chris Pine, and it may be his best role to date. Pine plays Luther, the "bad" kid at Catholic school who can get you anything you want. He is however caught and along with his roommate, he is quickly booted out of school. Luther becomes obsessed with finding out who turned him in and when he does, the boy mysterious turns up dead. At a similar time, someone confesses to Priest Michael Kelly, who now knows who and why, but can't say anything. As a result Kelly quickly becomes a suspect leading up to a tremendous finally. Pine, best known as the "new" Captain Kirk was just fantastic. It's a shame this is a B-Movie, because if it had been a major release, he would have gained the recognition he deserves a lot sooner. This film is tremendous, I saw it as a modern day Shakespearean tragedy. It has life, death, religion, intrigue, and much more. It's a great film that fell way under the radar!
lriordan-3
I am surprised by the negative reviews. The film is a lot better than most films that are produced. (Bondock Saints or Chuck and Larry.)The film is essentially a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's superb film, "I, confess," in which a priest is also framed for a murder he has heard confessed. (So the premise, and indeed the ending is not original.)The actors were far to old to be playing high-school characters and their acting left quite a bit to be desired. The priests and the detectives, however, are all quite good, especially Tom Bosley. Another comment seems to have mistaken who confessed the crime, it was the murderer, not the witness.
ecabezas
Why wouldn't the priest at least say that someone that committed the crime confessed to him, therefore he can't reveal the identity. Instead he keeps his mouth shut and becomes a suspect. Pretty far-fetched if you ask me. Also why doesn't the pries encourages the boy to turn himself in...it would have been a better plot. Not a very believable movie. I was disappointed with the ending. This is not a movie I would recommend, unless you don't have anything else to watch. The character for the policeman is not very well developed either. In addition, the boy who was witness to the murder (accident really) is not very smart either. He should have talked to the priest not as a confession, this way giving the priest a way out form the confession rule.
AD
