Roger Ebert Gave A Perfect Score To This Forgotten Robert Duvall Drama (Which He Also Directed) – SlashFilm

In 1997, Robert Duvall launched what had been a significant ardour mission for the veteran star. “The Apostle,” which Duvall wrote and directed, additionally noticed him star as a preacher who escapes his former life after an act of violence and begins a brand new church. It was a modest business success however a important triumph, with reviewers commending Duvall on a mission that had taken a very long time to come back to fruition. Roger Ebert was significantly impressed, awarding “The Apostle” an ideal 4 stars and praising Duvall for his nuanced depiction of a flawed holy man.

Duvall, who handed away on February 15, 2026, on the age of 95,, received the Finest Actor Oscar for enjoying nation singer Mac Sledge in Bruce Beresford’s 1983 drama “Tender Mercies.” However he was nominated a number of extra occasions, together with for “The Apostle.” For the actor, it will need to have been an much more humbling second than typical to obtain the nomination, as he’d had vital bother even getting the movie made. Based on a 1997 New York Instances profile, a then-66-12 months-outdated Duvall spent $5 million of his personal cash to make “The Apostle,” which was rejected by studios for 13 years.

So far as Ebert noticed it, that was all because of the reality the movie was “about one thing” which in his estimation “scares” studios. It needn’t have. “The Apostle” made $21.2 million on the field workplace towards its $5 million finances and earned widespread reward, particularly from famous film lovers like Ebert. The critic appeared significantly taken with “The Apostle,” nonetheless, which he described as “a lesson in how motion pictures can escape from conference and penetrate the hearts of uncommon characters.”

Robert Duvall was among the best male actors of all time. He was additionally a spiritual man and clearly harbored a need to discover perception on the large display all through his profession. The son of a Methodist father and a Christian Scientist mom, Duvall instructed the New York Instances he had primarily been engaged on the thought for “The Apostle” for the reason that early Nineteen Sixties when he witnessed a Pentecostal preacher ship a sermon in a small Arkansas chapel. The actor continued to gather concepts and inspiration within the years after and ultimately wrote a screenplay that was completed in 1984. Sadly, no one needed to make it.

“The Apostle” focuses on Euliss F. “Sonny” Dewey, a Texas-based mostly Pentecostal preacher who discovers his spouse is dishonest on him with a youth minister. The primary indication that that is no simple lionization of the trustworthy comes when Dewey whacks that youth minister with a baseball bat, finally killing him. This prompts the preacher to flee to Louisiana; there, he reinvents himself as “The Apostle E. F.” and begins a brand new church. Finally, Dewey varieties a congregation that crosses racial boundaries and appears to have efficiently escaped his former life. However issues aren’t fairly as steady as they seem, and after his ex-spouse hears a radio broadcast that includes “The Apostle E. F.,” she calls within the authorities.

Other than Duvall, the movie includes a sturdy forged that features Billy Bob Thornton as a racist convert in addition to Walton Goggins, Miranda Richardson, and Farrah Fawcett, amongst others. It was additionally met with important reward throughout the board, with reviewers commending Duvall for his grounded, nuanced tackle religion. No person, nonetheless, was fairly as complimentary as Roger Ebert.

Finally, Robotic Duvall put up $5 million of his personal cash to make “The Apostle,” which lastly secured distribution after screening on the 1997 Toronto Worldwide Movie Pageant. It had been a very long time coming, however when the movie debuted in December 1997, it was all price it. Duvall clearly designed “The Apostle” as a means for motion pictures to lastly take evangelical religion significantly. That is to not say “significantly” within the sense that it takes an unquestioning strategy to Christian beliefs themselves, however within the sense that it treats the characters as actual, flawed folks and does not draw back from showcasing their very own struggles with religion.

As Roger Ebert noticed it, Duvall had crafted a script that “sees its characters in an unusually perceptive gentle,” presenting them with all of the “complexity and spontaneity of individuals in a documentary.” Duvall was at all times a grasp of crafting grounded characters that felt lived-in, bringing a naturalistic component to each half he performed. With “The Apostle,” then, he’d introduced that very same sense of realism to the mission as a complete, writing a script that Ebert described as “astonishingly delicate.” “There is not a canned and prefab story arc, with predictable stops alongside the way in which,” wrote the critic. “As a substitute, the film feels as alive as if it is a documentary of issues occurring proper now.”

Granted, Ebert additionally gave an ideal rating to Zack Snyder’s controversial “Watchmen” film and the mediocre Samuel L. Jackson thriller “Lakeview Terrace.” However he was removed from the one critic who cherished “The Apostle,” which stands as a testomony to Duvall’s exceptional expertise for nuance and subtlety to at the present time.