The Perfect Family (2011) User Reviews

'I don't have to think. I'm Catholic!'

[gradyharp · 6/10 · 12 May 2012]

Beginners Anne Renton, director, and Paula Goldberg and Claire V. Riley, writers, had a good idea when framing this story about a mother's bigotry hidden under the cloak of Catholicism, and the film could have been extremely pertinent in today's milieu of the President's sanctioning of same sex marriage. The problem is the script is so weak and pasted together that it gives very little weight to the actors to bring off the message that could have been important. Yes, some viewers may rile that the film is anti-Catholic but it is not - it is just anti-prejudice.

Eileen Cleary (Kathleen Turner, crippled by a weak script until the very end of the film), a woman who devotes 98 % of her life to tending to her church duties and caring for the elderly who are house bound and other good Christian deeds, has been nominated as Catholic Woman of the year: the other nominee is Agnes Dunn (Sharon Lawrence), an almost equal do- gooder - both nominated by Monsignor Murphy (Richard Chamberlain). Eileen's family must be approved for the award and that is when the balloon of Eileen's glee seems to pop: her husband Frank (Michael McGrady) is an alcoholic who has been sober 15 years and must attend AA meetings; her son Frank, Jr (Jason Ritter) has left his wife and family for a manicurist whom he loves; and her daughter Shannon (Emily Deschanel, a successful 30- something lawyer and 5 months pregnant, is about to marry her girlfriend Angela (Angelique Cabral) in a same sex wedding to be performed by Father Joe (Scott Michael Campbell). Eileen is disturbed that Anglea's parents (Elizabeth Peña and Gregory Zaragoza) approve and will host the wedding. Desperate to win the award, Eileen is conflicted between shame over her family and still desiring to do the right thing by them. Unable to accept any of their choices her family begins to splinter, with even her husband threatening to leave. How it all turns the corner is when Eileen finally reveals a secret of her own she has always had to hide for fear of being judged a bad Catholic. The ending is the best part of the film as it finally shows Eileen to be a more complete human being and things seem to fall in line.

The cast tries hard to make this all work and succeed as far as the script will allow. Katheen Turner, looking cosmetically and adipose altered, struggles with her role, but by film's end she seems to succeed in conveying the message of the film. Grady Harp, May 12

Not nearly as bad as the score and some reviews make it out to be

[unsolicitedmale · 7/10 · 2 July 2012]

I'm surprised at such a low score for this movie! First, please know that I was born, baptized, and raised Catholic. I've since moved to another religion, but not for any "Catholic hate" reasons at all. So I have a STRONG knowledge of Catholicism. It seems MOST of the negative reviews claim it's "Christian/Catholic bashing"... I would wonder how many of those folks actually WATCHED it or just wrote a review based on a presupposed notion. There is NO Christian bashing at all IMO. Just portraying people such as I've known all my life the way they are, and the portrayal isn't bad in any way, as far as I'm concerned.

Overall it's very balanced - yeah there's a few potshots at Catholics ("I don't have to think... I'm Catholic") but overall, the portrayal is VERY accurate to my Catholic upbringing and those in the faith I know today. Sure, hardly ANY nuns still wear the habit - but it's just little things. By and large the portrayal I thought was fair on ALL SIDES, not only for the Catholics but all the other characters.

I'll be honest and say I FULLY EXPECTED a "Christians are stupid knuckle dragging Neanderthals" flick - I expected to shut it off half way through. Instead, I watched the whole thing and rather enjoyed it.

The movie itself actually plays quite well - Kathleen Turner takes a bit of getting used to because of her very deep, manly voice... but overall, it has a nicely done "indie" feel to it in every way.

No, it's NOT an award contender in any way - some of the acting is rather stiff and forced, the plot is predictable, and there are quite a few clichés and stereotypes. But it's VERY watchable, totally held my attention, was touching in places, and ENJOYABLE to watch right up to the end for me.

Give it a shot - don't let the negative reviews implying it's a "Christian bashing" flick deter you.

A slow building story about a woman who tries everything to win an award. Worth watching, great message & end. I say B-.

[cosmo_tiger · 6/10 · 9 May 2012]

"I don't have to think, I'm catholic." Eileen Cleary (Turner) has finally been nominated for Catholic Woman Of The Year and wants to win it badly. She will stop at nothing to win which includes trying to cover up her families choices. She then becomes conflicted as to winning or being a supportive mother. I have to start by saying that after the first half hour I was almost ready to turn this off. I'm not saying that it wasn't good but just really slow and seemed to lack emotion. The more I watched the better it got though and I really liked the ending. For a movie like this the ending was perfect. My biggest problem with this movie is that it seemed to lack real emotion and all the performances seemed flat and phoned in. I'm not sure what it was but I just felt like it was missing something to make me feel for the characters. Overall, a movie with a perfect ending that is worth watching but was lacking any real emotion from the actors. I give it a B-.

The Church's imperfections affectionately told.

[JohnDeSando · 12 June 2012]

As a fallen-down Catholic with reservations about the Church, I wasn't prepared for an even-tempered story about a devout mother, Eileen (Kathleen Turner) facing a family at odds with some basic Church doctrines. While I still stay away, I found The Perfect Family wise about the devotion of true believers and wary of extremists.

Eileen has been nominated for Catholic Woman of the Year (disclosure: one of my former wives was elected Vermont Catholic Mother of the Year—a true irony). In order to impress the archbishop, she must show an exemplary family. Not easy, as she discovers a son about to divorce and a daughter marrying a woman and having a child. Modern as these situations are, they are not acceptable to the teachings of the church about the sanctity of marriage and children born of that union. The film gently but assuredly moves Eileen's life along just as you might expect it to go with any contemporary Catholic family facing decisions.

Although the denouement is too pat, it doesn't deviate too much from what might really happen, and with a little surprise accompanying it all. Kathleen Turner provides the right amount of hyper-ventilation when faced with the truth of her children's situations and her formerly alcoholic husband. Richard Chamberlain as Monsignor Murphy shows director Anne Renton's sense of humor using an actor who played a randy prelate in The Thorn Birds. In Catholic town, nothing is as it seems except for my very real indoctrination by the Sisters of Saint Joseph.

Not necessarily a movie bashing on Christians

[KineticSeoul · 4/10 · 15 June 2013]

This didn't seem like a movie that bashed on Christians. But how sometimes people can fall for protecting their own reputations, their own pride and ego, and to prove their worth to people. Instead of genuinely moving because of love and affection for each other through Christ. C'mon nobody likes to be hovered over by someone else, especially by people they hardly know. And be judged upon constantly, even with smug and arrogant stares. This movie just seemed to show how it can cause Christians downfall if they have the wrong motives in mind and not Christ-centered. The plot is basically about a Catholic woman that is overly obsessed with her Christian reputation and winning the Catholic woman award at her church. But also having to deal with a lesbian daughter and a son that left his wife that he didn't love for someone else. This is a relatable movie since I met certain Christians that are portrayed in this movie. Especially people that fall for the logo over the symbol that should be stood up for with genuine heart and right motives without judgmental eyes. But overall it just quickly became dull and boring. Sure sometimes a rehash of real life in movie form can be entertaining but just not so much in this case. There just wasn't much emotion or attention grabbing aspect about this movie.

4.5/10

Faith vs family

[itsvivek4u · 7/10 · 10 July 2011]

I dunno why but I have always liked well made films on dysfunctional families. This one falls in the same category. And when the film mixes comedy and religion which makes people sit up and take notice, laugh and think at the same time, the director and the writer's job is well done. The film was house full for the only screening in the LGBT film festival and it was very good to see a good mix of men and women to enjoy this thoughtful, hilarious and poignant comedy.

Eileen is a god fearing woman who is all about Church and being catholic. She has devoted her life to this. This effort is noticed by the parish and she is nominated for the 'Catholic woman of the year' award which suddenly becomes very important to her. All the work she has done so far definitely vouches for her being the right winner but she faces a hurdle when its the time for interviewing he family with the bishop. She is now finding out that her perfect daughter Shannon is lesbian, is 5 months pregnant and is about to marry her life partner Angela. At the same time her son, Frank Jr. is planning to leave is wife because finally for once he has found his true love in another woman. Her husband is also a recovering alcoholic who takes side of his kids but with the controlling nature of Eileen cannot say much. There are some finely times comic scenes when Eileen tries to balance all this. She hesitantly attends her daughter's wedding. She is even helping Shannon and Angela with house chores because Shannon pregnancy is delicate. There are serious moments also, when she goes a little overboard in her controlling nature, forcing her husband to leave her and take a temporary break, her son wants to have nothing to do with her and Shannon loses her baby thereby despising her mother even more. Finally Eileen realizes that it is not the award that is important to her, it is her family and the happiness of the family. And at this time, her family comes to support her full time when the awards are to be announced which she rightfully deservingly wins.

Kathleen Turner playing EIleen does a fantastic job playing her part. She shows excellent expressions and acting abilities as a woman trying to balance her religion and her family. She is hysterical in some scenes. Some of the dialogues are out-wittingly funny like 'I am not supposed to think. I am catholic'. The side story of Shannon and Angela has also been done very well. I am glad that the y showed at least Angela's parents are fully supportive of the relationship. I was a little confused by the whole equation that husband and wife shared but after a while, I was like yeah whatever, I don't care because I am enjoying this film a lot.

Strongly recommended. It will be wrong to classify this film strictly as queer cinema but the festival did give me an opportunity to watch some good cinema. (7/10)

If you make a movie about Catholics, at least get it right.

[dr-t-630-653366 · 3/10 · 11 March 2013]

This was an interesting movie, but I have to wonder how much the writer, producer, or director knows about current Catholic practice. There were a lot of details wrong. For one thing, no Catholic-sponsored organization would ever offer "lifetime-absolution" as a prize for a Woman of the Year Award--that kind of thinking in the Catholic Church went out with the Council of Trent. Absolution from sin is available to any Catholic through a sincere reception of the sacrament of Reconciliation--you don't have to win it as a prize. For another thing, no Catholic would say a blessing before eating with "Come Lord Jesus, be our guest, etc." It would always be "Bless us o Lord AND (not FOR) these thy gifts." And all Catholics are not of Irish descent--the archbishop of Dublin wouldn't be anyone special, other than maybe one more archbishop. Errors like these might seem trivial, but they seem to indicate that someone hasn't researched Catholicism very well, which, to me, diminishes their right to criticize it.

not anti-Catholic in the least

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 3 September 2013]

Eileen Cleary (Kathleen Turner) is desperate to be the best Catholic in the neighborhood. So it's great news when she's nominated for Catholic Woman of the year. Except her family is a mess of inappropriateness and she needs to be better than all the rest for the award. Her lesbian daughter Shannon (Emily Deschanel) is pregnant. Her son Frank Cleary Jr. (Jason Ritter) left his wife and kids for the beautician next door. Her husband Frank Cleary (Michael McGrady) can't stand her.

This is not anti-Catholic in my opinion. It is much more anti-competition to see who's the best Catholic. It's the competition that's ugly. The central theme is acceptance. After all, she wins the award even when all is revealed. Kathleen Turner's character is too harsh and unlikeable. It's hard to watch sometimes. However, it was nice to watch her character grow.

Boring

[maya-822 · 3/10 · 10 May 2013]

Kathleen Turner was great as a neurotic and psychopathic mom in Serial Mother. When I watched the trailer of The Perfect Mother, I laughed, and so I expected to find in it the same folly as in John Waters' comedy. Eileen Cleary is a mother and a devout catholic. She happens to be nominated against her best enemy for the award of the catholic woman of the year. If she wins, she will receive the greatest prize : the absolution of her sins. To be elected, she needs to be assiduous at church and in her charity works, but she also needs to have a perfect family. The trouble is, her husband is a former alcoholic, her son has just left his wife and kids for the manicurist next door, and her daughter is gay, and pregnant. The accumulation of clichés as obstacles can be funny in a comedy, but not here. The film – except for some good lines and Turner's acting – is pretty boring. I didn't laugh, I barely smiled. It takes ages to actually start, and when it does, it doesn't go very far. Eileen is in a quandary : she has to choose between her family and her faith. What will she do ? I mean come on, this is a comedy, we all know how it is going to end. The problem is not the end really. The problem is that the scenes that are supposed to illustrate Eileen's conflict with her family, and her own dilemma, are not funny, but they are not sad either, or deep. The film remains on the surface so as not to shock anyone. It remains politically correct, full of good intentions, so of course, it fails as a comedy, and it also fails as a drama. Don't waste your time watching more than the trailer.

Read my other reviews on http://filmcritiks.wordpress.com/

Taking a left at the next left..

[scarletpumpernickel · 7/10 · 25 September 2020]

This movie fell prey to several misconceptions. First.., The Perfect Family was unfortunately categorized (somewhere) as a Comedy. That was a bit of a mistake..; and subsequently.. certain reviewers were disappointed and miffed.., having brought to the film certain expectations, which only got in the way. Once chagrined however, some of these hard-nose reviewers seemed to take pleasure in accusing the film of Catholic bashing. I am not Catholic myself; and I never noticed ANYWHERE that it was supposed to be funny. On the other hand, I do admit to holding a certain amount of anti-Catholic sentiment, and would likely have noticed any significant amount of bashing.., which I did NOT. Ergo, I simply watched the movie.. more-or-less tabula rasa.. and enjoyed it, while having my belief confirmed.. that a wife and children are inevitably more trouble than they're worth.

What I noticed most.. was the irony -- that the hard-line generally taken by mom Cleary.. was reproduced by some of the more negative reviewers.., who seemed quite offended that the movie was not virtually a true-to-life documentary.., especially because of the liberal spin that was given to the alleged family values and Catholic doctrines depicted, while trying to present them nonetheless as if they were still conservative. And, admittedly.. this would be irksome.

Next.., these kind of movie viewers might have a hard time with movies in general.. if they CAN'T accept that Art is NOT obliged to represent reality with total accuracy. So, rather than dissect the plot, or compliment Turner on her acting, or assess the various details of production.. since everyone else has already done so .., I want to remind everyone that when you watch a Hollywood movie, you will be getting a heavy dose of indoctrination or propaganda, mostly designed to further the globalist/liberal/satanistic agenda.., such as has gotten us where we are - here, awaiting our modern-day boxcars.. all, like sheep, wearing ineffective masks for a pandemic which is a total fiction anyway.

The real, un-cinematic Truth here is that most religions will fail us.., since they are fashioned and dominated by corrupt individuals who seek power, money, and self importance. And, all modern Organized Religion is rife with corruption at the top.., while neared the bottom, you can find true, sincere, humble believers, bought with the blood of Jesus Christ.. and many Catholics, who try to serve their church, their family, and their community.. far better than a lot of fundamentalist Protestants I know. (I hereby proclaim next week to be.. Take A Catholic To Lunch Week.., though I would avoid Friday.)

Forgive the aside.., but FOR the one person who might ever read this, and who is a born-again Catholic.., you have a truly great spokesman for Truth in the YouTube channel "Church Militant".. presenting episodes of "The Vortex", a Catholic news show.. which is doing a good job of truthing, while trying not to deeply offend those Catholics who misguidedly think "Mother Teresa" was one of the good guys.., or are oblivious to the pagan roots of Catholicism.. or the fact that the Pope's Audience Hall is deliberately shaped to resemble a snake's head, thereby revealing the Pope's true Luciferian allegiance. (Hear me now, and believe me later.)

All in all.., The Perfect family was moderately enjoyable, with the possible exception of Emily Deschanel, who is the quintessential One Trick Pony. cheers!!😇

Intellectually dishonest.

[danielf-crawford · 1/10 · 8 July 2013]

One of the worst, most intellectually dishonest and ignorant movies I've ever wasted time on. The "characters" are caricatures, the plot relies on clichés from beginning to end, the ignorance about the Catholic Church borders on bigotry, the ending is so contrived, yet so predictable, and the talents of some very good actors are wasted in this miserable "comedy".

"Enlightened" religion apparently condones adultery, abortion and homosexual relationships. A "Catholic" priest presides at a gay wedding, the Archbishop of Dublin travels to California to present the Catholic mother of the year award and give the winner "absolution" forever - ah come on. What makes this movie especially reprehensible is the portrayal of the mother as morally obtuse, rigid and hypocritical because she herself had an abortion and can't deal with her own guilt. I have known many parents concerned about their children who do not deal with them the way this "Catholic" mother does. But the movie is not concerned with real people: it's interested in a message communicated in stereotypes.

It could have been so much better, had it been much more true-to-life and honest. It's propaganda masquerading as "entertainment".

Can't appreciate it without understanding the SPOILER

[tjwprf · 8/10 · 23 May 2012]

The reviews I've read miss the entire point of this script, IMO. KT's character has lived most of her life trying to earn absolution for an act any Catholic woman, and most women who are mothers, would never be able to forgive themselves for (never mind one's political position on choice). She's dedicated her life to good works in her local diocese toward this end and, as a result, is offered the possibility of "complete absolution" of her sin by the church. After 30 years of attending confessional to absolve herself of her petty sins -- taking the lord's name in vain; doubting tenets of her faith -- this possibility of forgiveness for what, as a woman, is unforgivable, means everything to her. When that clashes with the realities of her family situation (gay daughter, divorcing adulterer son, husband who can no longer tolerate her self loathing and resultant intolerance), she must traverse a lot of emotional territory very quickly, because if she wants the absolution she thought mattered most, she has little time to make the case to the Church she has the "right" Catholic family, when everyone she loves needs her forbearance for being who they are, and none of them judges her or, if they knew the facts, would readily forgive her for her One Great Sin.

There are clunky scenes, but I loved this story and these characters. (And wish NYT ratings were easier to navigate and edit).

THE ENTIRE THING WAS CATHOLIC BASHING

[LoveFilmYesterday · 1/10 · 17 January 2023]

This film represents a clear hatred of God. Those who made this film are ignorant bigoted people who hate the Catholic Church. It begins with a sin that would get the mother excommunicated - destroying the most holy consecrated Eucharist by smashing it as she kicked it with the sole of her shoe to hide it. It would be over from there, because NO PRIEST would excuse that! Plus, there is NO COMPETITION for or purchase of a Sacrament. There used to be morality laws for filmmakers so nothing like this trash would ever be made. Finally, the mother had an abortion and never confessed it? Really? Then she ate the Eucharist which is eating her own condemnation. What moron would write such nonsense?

Another Catholic bashing movie by Hollywood liberals

[rangas-1 · 1/10 · 28 September 2013]

My wife was watching this today and I thought I will also watch it for a while. Within minutes I was horrified by the stereotypes displayed in perfect ignorance by atheist central a.k.a Hollywood. Catholic/Christian women are barefoot and pregnant in kitchen, slaves of the church and the husband, intolerant, ugly and also pretty much illiterate. On the other hand Lesbian women are pretty, intelligent, sophisticated, educated, eco-conscious, doing high power jobs and of course victimized...boohoo. Way to tow the party line. Icing on the cake is when Kathleen Turner blurts out "I don't have to think I am Catholic". Horrible politically motivated piece of filth.

What's more this movie totally made me lose respect for Emily D who was once one of my favorite actresses.

I gave this 1 star because I can't give a zero. I recommend all Christians to boycott this and also if possible lodge a complaint with the LMN channel.

I am always disappointed when I see that a movie makes fun and is blatantly disrespectful of anyone's religion.

[Anatomedics · 1/10 · 12 May 2012]

The movie world hasn't gotten bad enough I guess. I have barely seen a good movie for a long time come out of Hollywood. This one is, to me, just awful and thrown together, not as a story, but a few scenes to push someone's obvious disdain across about something they passionately hate. In this case, this is a person with a tremendous hatred for the Catholic Church....It is one of the worst films to come along in ages. And, by the way, incorrect in every way. The film contains all the usual anti-Catholic prejudice, invented and targeted humor, it touches purposely on all of the areas of concern in society such as premarital sex and homosexuality, abortion theme and some bad language. Just anything an anti-Catholic, anti-intellectual movie company could possibly gather together to make a film...It doesn't fool me though, it didn't change my feeling at all about my church....Shame on this.

Stupid Anti-Catholic Movie

[cpatt58 · 1/10 · 10 May 2012]

It would be nice for Hollywood to recognize that a lot of good Catholics actually go to the movies. It would be nice to have good movies like the Song of Bernadette or The Bells of St. Mary's. But instead we get this insulting, anti-Catholic movie that attacks all aspect of the Church and its mission. Kathleen Turner deserves an "F" for her performance as the ultra-Catholic Mom. Catholic mothers don't kick the Body of Christ under the rug because has fallen from the paten. It is a very pathetic attempt to spread the Catholic haters venom onto the silver screen. When are you going to learn that few people like going to movies that insult any religion? This piece of garbage needs to be taken to Turner's home and thrown in the trash. She use to be a wonderful actress; now she has stooped so low it is pathetic. Anyone associated with this vile piece of movie making should be blacklisted and punished.

Boring!

[Simply-Red · 1/10 · 16 October 2012]

I don't see how this film is even called a comedy. The acting is not very convincing at all and the entire premise of the story is old and tired.

Do we really need more movies making religious people look stupid? This movie is essentially a slam on Catholics and not even a good criticism of the faithful. I am not a church-goer and I found this film to be downright offensive. In addition it is a completely immature view of the subject of religious intolerance and "behind closed doors" lives of so'called religious people.

Kathleen Turners voice is unfortunately not very pleasant and downright hoarse. This made the film very hard to listen to...I'm not saying that to be cruel, her voice is just raspy and manlike and hard to take.

The move moves extremely slow and is just boring really. One of the worst movies I have rented in a while.

Kathleen Turner, a real actress in a sea of bland

[amberbaer · 8/10 · 16 July 2012]

Despite the reviews that say it's an anti-Catholic movie, it's not. It's a movie about a family, and the mother happens to be Catholic and struggling between her reality and the reality of the church to which she belongs....which happens to be Catholic.

Just sit back and watch the movie - it's got some nice, thought-provoking dialog and if you have to tear a movie down because it makes you ask questions....then maybe you should focus on your own life and stop watching movies!

Mister Ritter is also a treat to watch, so much like his father, who would be proud to see what a nice actor his son has become.

disappointed

[heedser-675-365004 · 5/10 · 2 May 2013]

Watching the first part of this movie, I enjoyed the acting and story. As it progressed, the agenda became clearer focusing on the Kathleen Turner character as the "problem". Is it so nutty to honor our marriage vows and encourage our children to do so too? Our parents and grandparents didn't think so. I guess everybody's desires must overrun any other commitments and the rightness or wrongness of any said desires must not be questioned. The only real "freak" is the old fashioned Mom. I question that.

The Catholic Church seems to be a free target now when every other group must not be slandered. I doubt most people who happen to read this would agree because when we want to see things that justify us, thats what we see and most of society likes to think it is right no matter what it does.

Depressing and offensive

[crmservices · 1/10 · 3 August 2012]

One of the most hate filled anti Catholic movies I have ever seen why!!!!!!! If the offensive stereotype were replaced by an ethnicity, there would be a civil war. "UGLY" best sums it up.

I would love to know who funds these movies? I would love to warn them that people like me who have no concern about whom people are intimate with, are starting to have a problem with this hate filled agendas of people that produce movies like this. Large groups of people, groups, and organizations are banding together in an effort to fight homosexual legislation. For the most part they aren't Catholics, but that is quickly changing thanks to crap like this.

Movie dripping with hate.

[rightisright · 2/10 · 3 December 2017]

This movie sticks out like a rancid sore thumb among the rest of the Lifetime movies. After looking it up here, we find that it was originally a real movie released to theaters, and made a whopping fourteen thousand. The star of the great movie Serial Mom Kathleen Turner is a fine Catholic woman up for an award that has a prize of lifetime absolution. What a bunch of hateful stereotypical hooey. Absolution is given just for the asking. How such hate at a group of people is allowed in this day and age is mystifying. And the priest from the Thorn Birds again as a priest here? Really?

Seemingly innocent but consistently anti Catholic at every turn

[trelark · 2/10 · 1 September 2017]

This movie as a whole was worthless and the meaning could be derived from any generic Hallmark card. There is absolutely no conflict resolution, only illogical acceptance. Every possible Catholic stereotype can be seen presented slyly through each scene. At first I couldn't tell which direction the movie would take, by at the abrupt ending that punched me in the face I was left very unsatisfied.

Not condeming faith.

[alicat835 · 8/10 · 26 June 2012]

I disagree with some of the reviewers here. This movie is true to the point for very devout Catholics. I grew up Catholic and saw a lot of prejuidice towards people because of the faith. The practices and beliefs of the Catholic church have hurt many people and this movie points to those. It also is a movie about growth. Not just in everyday relationships, but with yourself, and how one must balance real life and religion. This movie isn't to put down or make fun of Catholicism, rather those that are obsessed with how they are taken by their community. One can have faith (any faith) and still love and accept everyone, this movie teach this.

This is a movie about redemption and recovery.

[laportama-954-497959 · 8/10 · 10 November 2013]

The dogma of religious and social politics are, in the end, mere scenery. You could put this independent ditty in any social setting where behavior and expectations are scrutinized. I think a successful 12-stepper in particular would recognize the elementary purity of the message. A pleasant surprise. Drugs and alcohol are represented, by analogy and metaphor, as symptoms rather than as root cause, of the manifestations of character defects and the interactions of personal and societal expectations. Conflict-> resolution. Crucifixion -- by self and circumstances -- resurrection and ascension; virtue as its own reward. No different than Return of the Jedi, in that sense, and a lot less noise.

A film about what it means to be a REAL Catholic

[aussiefilmlover · 8/10 · 19 December 2013]

As a person raised in a strict Catholic community it warmed my heart to see this movie. I wish it was shown at every Catholic church in the world because the acceptance and forgiveness in this movie is more in keeping with the teachings of Christ than the hate that is spewed by the sheep in his name. How anyone could think this is anti-catholic when it is all about what it means to be a real follower of Jesus and about God's love for all his creations. The only unbelievable thing was that the mother would be able to forgive herself and accept her children when the reality is many Catholics will reject and harm their children rather than question their self-serving dogma.