The Good Catholic - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Good Catholic

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
I say this before every faith “based” movie, but I will say it again as it bears a reason for many of my criticisms and praises in this particular genre of film making. As a believer I have a much harsher view about religious movies as they tend to fall into two camps. The first being a secular movie that COMPLETELY miscategorizes the entire meaning behind the subject material (much like Twilight butchered vampires as Stephanie Meyers had about as much familiarity with the creatures as I do with mechanical engineering), or the second being well meaning Christian film makers who put forth a good message, but ultimately fail at making a good movie because they are too focused on the message and not competent film making. There are a few outliers to this two option scenario, but they are few and far between. The Good Catholic actually strangely breaks that mold ENTIRELY and exists both within and without those two before mentioned categories.

Father Daniel (Zachary Spicer) is having a sort of crisis of faith. It’s not that he doesn’t believe in God anymore, or is being tempted to leave the Church, but he’s struggling with the realization that his passion FEELS gone. He knows what he wants to do, and he loves his calling, but he does “see God” in everything like his mentor, Father Victor (Danny Glover), an older mentality Priest who guides Daniel as best he can. Father Daniel’s own father died last year, and the emotional weight is heavy on his shoulders, but still the man perseveres. Then along comes Jane (Wrenn Schmidt), a precious young woman who waltzs into his Friday night confessional and confesses that she about to die. Shocking the young priest, Jane continues on with her verbal outpouring of wanting a casket etc, and then suddenly vanishes. Lo and behold the woman comes back the next week and slowly a sort of strange rapport develops between the two of them. A rapport that starts to become deeper as Daniel’s crisis of faith gets deeper.

Part way through the film Director/Writer Paul Shoulberg inserts a scene where the impetuous Jane sort of forces a reversal on the poor father, interjecting herself as the “priest” and having confess something to her in a way to make him more “human”. This is where Daniel finally lets down his hair and lets the audience (and Jane) know about his crisis of faith. A scene that was MEANT to be moving and powerful, but had me scratching my head as it seemed to distance any emotional connection between Father Daniel and Jane. However, not a few more scenes later we have the two going out for coffee, going to listen to one of Jane’s concerts, and then walking her home where a few PG jokes are told (hint hint). At this point it become painfully obvious where Shoulberg was taking the movie. A move which had me curious to see where it would take us.

Yes, you can tell where the movie is going, but HOW it handles the subject matter is really where I was focusing on. The first half of the movie was subtle and coquettish, with Shoulberg never really tipping his hand where Jane and Daniel’s relationship were going to end up. Where they just going to be friends? Was he going to leave the Church? Was he going to convert her? All questions that could go any which way. Unfortunately The Good Catholic is one of the finest examples of a director wanting to have his cake and eat it too. I should have been clued into the fact that Paul Shoulberg dedicates the film to his father who died a few years back that something parallel to reality was at play, but it wasn’t until I did some research on him that it all clicked into place. Shoulberg is the son of a former priest who married a former nun. A resounding “ding ding ding!!!” for those of you wondering where the movie’s ending is going to take us. It’s an ending that is at conflict with itself as it tries to LITERALLY have its cake and eat it to. Daniel gets what he wants with his faith, and he also gets what he wants (seemingly) with Jane. Something that is an antithesis to his very strict calling within the confines of the movie. Am I saying that Daniel should have made the decision to stay within the confines of strict Catholicism when it comes to romantic relationships? Not at all, Martin Luther was a priest and monk before he left the Catholic church, but his severing of ties was what made that possible, not trying to STILL be a priest and following those guidelines AND marrying his wife Katherine.

I liked PORTIONS of The Good Catholic, as Zachary Spicer adds a sense of earnestness to Father Daniel that is very endearing. However, there is a distinct lack of deep characterization that would have made them more palatable. The only one who we really go deep into is Father Daniel. Jane has this fascination with death that is dabbled at, but then left on the wayside as their relationship forms, and Father Victor is nothing more than the “good angel” on Daniel’s shoulder. The Franciscan priest Ollie (John C. McGinley) is the polar opposite, and is the carbohydrate loving, sports watching, occasionally swearing, polar opposite who seems to embody the more modern concept of being a little looser and more modern aspect of the priesthood, but seems to add nothing more than a snarky wit and a bit of light comedic reprieve from the overly heavy subject matter. Subsequently outside of Daniel’s crisis of faith, the film meanders and wanders about leaving this viewer wondering exactly where it would go. Then once it finally resolves itself in the last few minute of the film, it tries to make the conclusion be one that is happy for all, without realizing that many of the mini resolutions are diametrically opposed to each other.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 for language including a sexual reference.




Video:

The 1.85:1 AVC encoded Blu-ray is not going to be a winner of many eye candy awards, but it is a competently done encode that doesn’t show any faults other than the rather flat looking cinematography. The film is bathed in that sort of yellow tinge that gives the film a slightly sickly look indoors, and even when outside in the daylight looks a bit flat and dull. There are some outdoor shots which look clean and clear, but the dull tone to the film keeps it from popping in any colorful way. Blacks are solid, with good shadow detail, but the yellow tone washes some scenes out just a little bit. Fine detail is actually rather impressive, as you can see the lines and curves of the priest collars, or the graying hairs on John C. McGinley’s face against his ruddy beard.





Audio:

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA track is very much on par with the video encode. The movie doesn’t really stretch the 5.1 capabilities of the track, but rather is content to maintain a strong front heavy mix that focuses strictly on dialog and some VERY minor background noises. The film has a very basic set design, and stays inside the rectory 99% of the time, so most of what you’re hearing is the discussions between Jane, Father Daniel, Father Victor and Ollie. There’s a few moments, such as when Daniel goes to Jane’s performance, that the surrounds open up with a little side noise, but the verbal portions of the film really dominate this track, keeping the surrounds and LFE channel almost nonexistent.
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Extras:

• Trailers

Final Score: ​

I had heard some high praise from a few other faith based reviewers which was why I really wanted to see The Good Catholic, but I was quite surprised how much I was turned off to the film. It wasn’t that I found the film wildly sacrilegious from a religious point of view, but how inept and simplistic the film was. Shoulberg desperately tries to have all parties in this debate come together and sing kumbaya that he ignores opposing viewpoints that can’t reconcile themselves in the same happy ending, and ends up just sidelining most of his characters for anything more than trite commentaries. I get the DIRECTION that Shoulberg was going for, and the history of his parents certainly gives weight to them, but his HANDLING of the film was really where he let everything fall apart. Broad Green Pictures’ Blu-ray is competently done, with decent audio and video, but sadly no extras besides a few trailers. Honestly, I personally can’t bear to give it a “skip it’ rating as it’s not that bad of a movie and has some fascinating points to make, but it’s not something I would recommend for family night either. Thus I have to split it down the middle and recommend a rental.




Technical Specifications:

Starring: Zachary Spicer, Wrenn Schmidt, Danny Glover, John C. McGinley
Directed by: Paul Shoulberg
Written by: Paul Shoulberg
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Spanish DTS-HD MA 5.1
Studio: Broad Green Pictures
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 97 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: October 24th, 2017

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Rental

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I will skip this one.

 

[JimShaw]

I will do the same unless I can find it really cheap say for around $10