The main character,played by Martin Sheen ,is the most interesting;too bad they focused on his passion for cinema and his will to have a movie theater ,in spite of the well-meanings from his flock .The question of his faith is much more important:when the old lady passes away ,he realizes that she was not a true believer ,and flashbacks about the priest's childhood show that he did not feel a vocation for priesthood (he tells it so:"God never called me" ).It was his mother's dream (and selfishness),not his.
But this side of the priest (which is ,all in all,essential) is too underwritten .The other parts are cardboard ,particularly Stephen Rea's grumpy notable.The young teacher is more endearing but his affair with his (married with a kid) landlady is quite derivative ,even if he compares her to Jane Wyman in " All that heaven allows" -thus we learn that the story takes place after 1955,whereas the hints at Rex Ingram's "four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" and " The prisoner of Zenda" ,could make us believe the action happened much earlier.(though they were remade later)
Besides ,the choice (by chance?) of "from here to eternity" ( 1953) is not what you call a smart one to test the equipment;and it includes the famous scene when Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr (mistaken for Liz Taylor!) have an adulterous relationship at that! See it for Martin Sheen's moments of doubt and fear.
But this side of the priest (which is ,all in all,essential) is too underwritten .The other parts are cardboard ,particularly Stephen Rea's grumpy notable.The young teacher is more endearing but his affair with his (married with a kid) landlady is quite derivative ,even if he compares her to Jane Wyman in " All that heaven allows" -thus we learn that the story takes place after 1955,whereas the hints at Rex Ingram's "four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" and " The prisoner of Zenda" ,could make us believe the action happened much earlier.(though they were remade later)
Besides ,the choice (by chance?) of "from here to eternity" ( 1953) is not what you call a smart one to test the equipment;and it includes the famous scene when Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr (mistaken for Liz Taylor!) have an adulterous relationship at that! See it for Martin Sheen's moments of doubt and fear.