Blu-Ray Review: Anthony Hopkins Conducts Half-Asleep ‘The Rite’

Printer-friendly versionE-mail page to friendPDF version

CHICAGO – The worst thing you can call a movie is not “bad.” The worst thing you can call a movie is “boring.” We’ve all seen bad movies that are a total blast, but there’s no rescuing a boring movie. “The Rite,” recently released on Blu-ray and DVD, is incredibly boring.

Blu-Ray Rating: 1.5/5.0

Part of the problem is the casting of the remarkably dull Colin O’Donoghue in the lead role. I hate to come down hard on a newcomer, but rarely has an actor sucked an entire film into a black hole of a performance like Mr. O’Donoghue. Director Mikael Hafstrom certainly deserves a share of the blame as he shepherded this leaden turn and co-stars like Anthony Hopkins and Alice Braga simply should have known better.

The Rite was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on May 17, 2011
Photo credit: Warner Bros. Home Video

There was a lot riding on the casting of the lead of “The Rite” as the whole film centers around his crisis of faith. Inspired by true events (aren’t all horror movies?), O’Donoghue plays a seminary student with cold feet as he approached graduation. He’s having a tough time believing and so he’s sent to study exorcism at the Vatican.

The Rite was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on May 17, 2011 Photo credit: Warner Bros. Home Video

After wandering the streets of Rome, our hero meets an over-the-top exorcism legend named Father Lucas (Hopkins), a man who has reportedly performed thousands of exorcisms. Can Father Lucas help prove the existence of God by proving the existence of the Devil? The two investigate a case with a few creepy undertones that takes Father Lucas to a potentially dangerous place and faith becomes a necessity for survival.

Hopkins gets a few moments to truly go over the top with his trademark intensity (there are times when Father Lucas feels not too distant from Hannibal Lecter) but “The Rite” is shockingly slow. There are WAY too many wordy scenes about faith and our hero wandering lost around the Vatican. The script by Michael Petroni is conflicted between being a serious, faith-based drama and a crazy horror movie. And, so, “The Rite” is neither. Who could have guessed that a battle between Hell and Earth could be so damn slow?

Synopsis:
“Inspired by true events, this supernatural thriller follows a seminary student (Colin O’Donoghue) sent to study exorcism at the Vatican in spite of his own doubts about the controversial practice and even his own faith. Only when sent to apprentice with legendary Father Lucas (Anthony Hopkins), who has performed thousand of exorcisms, does his armor of skepticism begin to fall. Drawn into a troubling case that seems to transcend even Father Lucas’s skill, the young seminarian glimpses a phenomenon science can’t explain or control — and an evil so violent and terrifying that it forces him to question everything he believes.”

Special Features:
o Chilling Alternate Ending
o The Rite: Soldier of God
o Additional Scenes

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com