The Rite
by Dante Rosario on January 29th, 2011
The Players: Anthony Hopkins, Colin O’Donoghue, Alice Braga, Ciaran Hinds, Toby Jones, Rutger Hauer, and Marta Gastini.
The Game Plan: Michael Kovak (Colin O’Donoghue) is a Catholic priest in training who no longer believes in the idea of a higher power, or the principles and guidelines of the bible. When Michael decides to withdraw from school, he is presented with an ultimatum; quit the seminary and lose funding for tuition, or travel to Rome and attend a two-month course focused on teaching Catholic priests how to perform exorcisms. Michael chooses the lesser of the two evils and travels to Rome to attend the course on exorcism, where he meets Father Lucas Trevant (Anthony Hopkins). As he struggles to find proof that the supernatural exists Michael continually refutes Father Lucas’ theories about the power of exorcisms and the ever-existing evil present in our world, despite the growing evidence that true evil may be closer to him than he thinks.
Dante’s Thoughts: “The Rite” is the type of supernatural thriller audiences should take with a grain of salt. Meaning… you shouldn’t go into this movie with the assumption that everything happening on screen is an exact reenactment of actual events because the reality may be that very little of this film may actually be based on true events, despite the disclaimer at the end of the credits about Father Lucas and Michael Kovack. Sadly this movie really is just another in a long tradition of overly exaggerated exorcism films. While the first half of the movie pretends to be authentic, the second half of the film seeks to gain the audiences approval by morphing into a horror flick.
Colin O’ Donoghue isn’t bad in the role of Michael, but he certainly wasn’t convincing, as there were too many times during the course of the film where his emotions seemed forced and unnatural. In contrast, Sir, Anthony Hopkins is as creepy as ever in one of his best performances since 2001’s Hannibal. I’ve always found it interesting and amusing that Anthony Hopkins’ best performances happen when he plays a character that is completely out of their gourd… The supporting cast is also good, but Alice Braga, in the role of an overly zealous investigative reporter trying to find a case of actual possession, and Marta Gastini as Rosaria, stand out. I have to admit Marta Gastini gives one of the best portrayals of a possession I’ve ever seen in a movie. …It might even rival Linda Blair’s iconic head turning scene in the 1973 classic The Exorcist.
Touchdowns: The seeming authenticity of the possessions scenes in this movie really blew me away… the actors involved went above and beyond for this film and should be commended for it. I also think the special effects and makeup team deserve a merit badge for their contribution as well.
Penalty: A flag has to be thrown against the formulaic approach of this film, which unfortunately makes it just like every other movie about exorcism that’s currently out there. Nothing about this movie is really original, we’ve all seen most of the themes and imagery before…there’s even the patented inverted cross scene, swarming flies, frogs, and berserk livestock. The most obvious plot device though is Michael, the Doubting Thomas who’s convinced himself the possessions he is witnessing are simply a result of some repressed traumatic life experience.
The End of Game Summary: What I found most enjoyable about this film was the fact that believers, and skeptics will find something in the story they will enjoy, despite the predictable plot. For those of you wondering about the severity of the horror in this film, there are plenty of good jump scares to satisfy even the most dedicated skeptic, and as for all you believers out there… well if you truly do believe in possession and the power of exorcism…this film will scare the hell out of you.
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I am so excited to see this film! I’ve been waiting to read MGPs review and you gave me all the information I was looking for
Thanks!