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Robert Duvall, Farrah Fawcett, Miranda Richardson, Todd Allen, John Beasley ... see more see more... , June Carter Cash , Walton Goggins , Billy Joe Shaver , Billy Bob Thornton , Rick Dial

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 m... read more read more...inister, 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 as "The Apostle" to God. Arriving in the black community of Bayou Boutte, Louisiana, he meets Brother Blackwell (John Beasley) who helps him start anew. E.F. works as a garage mechanic and preaches on the streets and a local radio station owned by Elmo (Rich Dial). He leads the community in remodeling a rundown church and gains supporters as he seeks his own salvation. In sorrow from the deaths of both his mother (June Carter Cash) and Horace, he encounters more problems when a racist (Billy Bob Thornton) attempts to drive a bulldozer into his church. Eventually, Jessie finds out where he's living and informs the police. Duvall wrote, directed, and financed this exploration of the evangelical world, shown at the Toronto Film Festival and the New York Film Festival. Filmed in Texas (Denton County, Collin County, and Dallas) and Lafayette, Louisiana. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

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76% liked it

7,388 ratings

Critics

91% liked it

45 critics

PG-13, 2 hr. 14 min.

Directed by: Robert Duvall

Release Date: January 30, 1998

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DVD Release Date: August 18, 1998

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Flixster Reviews (453)

  • sanjurosamurai
    September 30, 2011
    sanjurosamurai
    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... read more away from those qualifications a person can get and still convince people to follow them.
  • cosmo313
    August 14, 2011
    cosmo313
    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 Chri... read morestians (and even some atheists) who love and enjoy this film. That really says something.

    The story concerns a devout and fired up southern Pentecostal preacher from Dallas named "Sonny" Dewey whose life falls apart, and he deals with it in not the best way for a man of his sort. He then leaves his old life behind and reinvents himself in the town of Bayou Boutte, Louisiana as the Apostle E F as he goes on a quest to rebuild his life and find redemption.

    As a filmmaker, Duvall isn't bad. I mean, given how long he'd been in the business, it figures that he should have some sort of knowledge about the craft of filmmaking. That said though, the film is not perfect. It has a generous run time, and some of the scenes are really stretched out. What he lacks in strong narrative skills he makes up for with a brilliant performance and some terrific mise-en-scene. Even though it does run long, the dragged out scenes allow for more breathing room for the characters and themes.

    Besides Duvall, the film is filled with many terrific performances from professionals and nonprofessionals alike. Beasley has a great rapport with Duvall as a fellow preacher who helps him get his new life going, and Goggins, despite maybe getting a too melodramatic towards the end, is also quite fine. Fawcett, Richardson, Thornton and Cash all deliver some important (though briefer than others) supporting parts as well. The actors all embody their characters well, and help due justice to the world being portrayed here.

    I myself am a Catholic, but have a friend who is from the same world as Sonny. He has told me several times that he loves this movie, and that it gives a very accurate and fair portrayal of these types of people and believers. Having witnessed stuff like this for myself (despite my Catholicism), I can believe it. This film, though taking a side, presents these types of preachers and their congregations in a realistic, sensible, and three-dimensional manner.

    The music, cinematography, all the sets, costumes, and setting are great, and this film is excellent entertainment. It has a great and powerful message, and presents some fascinating material in a way which encourages belief instead of mocking or condemning it. Definitely go out and give this a watch.
  • aliceinpunderland
    January 14, 2011
    aliceinpunderland
    What a beginning, and what an end! Robert Duvall doesn't hold back as the evangelical preacher. It seems like caricature at first, but he sustains the flailing, the stamping, the "Holy Ghost Power"-ing, that even this crusty atheist couldn't help but be moved at Sonny's last hu... read morerrah.
  • middleeasternfilms
    December 3, 2009
    middleeasternfilms
    Financed, produced, directed and starring Oscar-winner Robert Duvall, this film is a down-home yet very grittty at times story of a disgraced preacher on the run from the police after beating his soon-to-be ex-wife's new boyfriend with a baseball bat at a baseball game. He makes ... read moreit down to Louisiana and starts a new life and new church with help from a retired pastor and some locals. Eventually, though, the law catches up with him at the end. Excellent performance by Duvall - one of his best - with a pretty good commentary track included as an extra.
  • bbcfloridabound
    September 22, 2009
    bbcfloridabound
    You can't give this movie any less then 5 Stars, Robert Duvall plays the part of a old time southern preacher and he hits the mark 100 percent. This type of preaching is fading in this world today. This is the True Old South, and nothing wrong with that. After his wife start shac... read moreking up with the Youth Minister, he rightfully so kicks the mans ass with a baseball bat. He then gives up all he has and goes on the road, to wind up in a small buyout town and here starts a new church. John Beasley plays an excellent part, as does the sinner getting saved Billy Bob Thornton. If you have been save in a Southern Church then this movie will mean a lot to you. 5 stars for all around acting on everyone part. Get a little enjoyment out of life and see this one NOW.
  • stormyweather980
    August 15, 2009
    stormyweather980
    I'm not a Christian yet and I don't watch that many religious-type movies, but I have to admit I was real impressed with "The Apostle." Robert Duvall gives one of the best performances any actor has ever given in any movie. He is convicted of a violent act and goes on the road tr... read moreying to get himself a place to preach. All the while, he gains support from friends, and even a few that are against him at first, for getting his own institution for preaching.
    Robert Duvall will make you think that he's really a preacher in real life by his performance. After watching this movie, I told everybody I knew that they should watch it cause it's a great movie. It made me want to learn more about Christianity and Jesus. Now I subscribe to a few devotionals in order to do so. If you're a Christian, there's not any doubt that you'll like this movie. I think most non-Christians like myself who keep an open mind about religion will also like it. It's one of the most inspirational and uplifting movies of all time. I think it's worth getting any day of the year. NOTE: That was my Amazon review from the year 2000. I got saved in 2002 and am now a Christian, and this movie probably helped me make that decision. Definitely one way more people should see, regardless of their beliefs!
  • fb619846742
    November 20, 2008
    fb619846742
    A superb character piece and a dedicated, thoughtful look on American religion. Duvall gives one of the best lead performances I think I've ever seen, with strong support from Beasley, Goggins, and a scene-stealing Thornton. Even if your not religious, you'll learn something abou... read moret this movie, especially the struggles some pastors have to go through to maintain their godly image.
  • Beefy
    August 11, 2007
    Beefy
    Duvall is a powerhouse!
  • jjnxn
    August 4, 2007
    jjnxn
    Endless and dull
  • fb653545547
    January 8, 2012
    fb653545547
    Robert Duvall is the heart and soul of The Apostle, preaching, crying, yelling and using all of his acting skills to convince us he is a southern preacher (with no relation to any of his other roles). This is a personal project for Duvall-he wrote, stars, and directs-and it show... read mores; it is unabashedly about religion and could only have been made outside the studio system. It takes a great leap of faith to buy into Duvall's Sonny communicating with a higher power since we can't see one part of that conversation and that may be, for me, the movie's greatest failing. He says God is leading him...yet how do we know? It's most likely not fair to ask that question since the entire premise of The Apostle relies on faith in what we can not see. The film carefully skirts most of the cliched issues one would expect to find in this story, though we do have the stereotypical racist, a late conversion and all that assorted hokum. But it's so well done on all sides it almost doesn't feel stereotypical. Almost.

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Critic Reviews

Emanuel Levy
February 18, 2006
Emanuel Levy, Variety

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 com... Full Review

Michael Dequina
March 31, 2009
Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com

Shocking in its unbridled, electrifying energy and raw emotion. Full Review

Gary Brown
August 13, 2007
Gary Brown, Houston Community Newspapers

I cannot recall a movie so dominated by the performance of one actor (Robert Duvall) as this one. Full Review

Thomas Delapa
August 21, 2006
Thomas Delapa, Boulder Weekly

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. Full Review

Jeffrey Overstreet
January 15, 2005
Jeffrey Overstreet, Looking Closer

... may be the most unapologetic, intimate portrayal of a religious man in the history of American cinema. Full Review

Judith Egerton
July 1, 2004
Judith Egerton, Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)

As the charismatic Sonny, Duvall brilliantly shouts the praises of Jesus. Full Review

James Sanford
July 31, 2003
James Sanford, Kalamazoo Gazette

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.' Full Review

Steven D. Greydanus
July 19, 2003
Steven D. Greydanus, Decent Films Guide

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 b... Full Review

John R. McEwen
February 8, 2003
John R. McEwen, Film Quips Online

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. Full Review

Betty Jo Tucker
August 2, 2002
Betty Jo Tucker, ReelTalk Movie Reviews

It's a sin to miss 'The Apostle.' Full Review

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