Average Rating: 8.1/10
Reviews Counted: 45
Fresh: 41 | Rotten: 4
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 8/10
Critic Reviews: 11
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 1
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 7,287
Devout Pentecostal preacher Eulis "Sonny" Dewey (Robert Duvall) of New Boston, Texas, has a lovely wife (Farrah Fawcett) and two children. But not only has Jessie been cheating on him with a younger minister, Horace (Todd Allen), she has pulled a few strings to gain control of his church. Sonny goes into a violent rage, attacking Horace with a bat during a softball game. With Horace in a coma, Sonny leaves town on a bus, headed east for a new life. He changes his name to E.F., baptizing himself
Jan 30, 1998 Wide
Aug 18, 1998
New Films International
All Critics (68) | Top Critics (18) | Fresh (42) | Rotten (4) | DVD (2)
A labor of love coming to fruition after 13 years, this is Robert Duvall's third and best directorial effort, a sharply observed exploration of a preacher who embarks on a redemption odyssey after committing a crime.
Shocking in its unbridled, electrifying energy and raw emotion.
I cannot recall a movie so dominated by the performance of one actor (Robert Duvall) as this one.
Some kind of acting miracle ... One doesn't have to be a churchgoer, or even a Christian, to be moved by the power of Duvall's great performance.
... may be the most unapologetic, intimate portrayal of a religious man in the history of American cinema.
As the charismatic Sonny, Duvall brilliantly shouts the praises of Jesus.
There are scattered inspired moments throughout this two-and-a-half hour epic but, like many actor-directors, Duvall is so in love with his material -- and his star -- that he just can't say 'cut.'
Disturbing but thought-provoking depiction of genuine faith coexisting with sin and carnality like the troubling fiction of Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene, and Flannery O'Connor, a vindication of belief without being a vindication of every believer.
Robert Duvall, writer, director, producer, and star of The Apostle, absolutely seethes with the character of Sonny Dewey (alias Apostle E.F.) in this, perhaps the best performance of his career.
It's a sin to miss 'The Apostle.'
an interesting study on the nature of spiritual authority and moral bankruptcy. duval is amazing, and the film covers its subject matter very well. as a pastor, its interesting to see how this character study correlates with the biblical qualifications for ministers and how far away from those qualifications a person
January 29, 2007
Super Reviewer
This film was very much a personal project and great labor of love for it's writer, director, executive producer, and star Robert Duvall. Not onlt that, but it is an excellent film and a tremendous character study that is deeply moving and powerful. There are non-Pentecostal Christians (and even some atheists) who love
August 9, 2011Super Reviewer
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