Oh no.

In spite of all the critical acclaim, Robert Duvall's labour of love "The Apostle" simply isn't a very good film at all. Quite frankly, it gave me a splitting headache.

The story of a preacher's redemption is so passionately brought to the screen that I almost feel bad about not liking it, but apart from Duvall's fiery performance, the film has very little to offer. The narrative structure is meandering and the plot is rather pointless. As a director, Duvall is at best adequate; he uses his camera in far too impersonal a manner, so that scenes which should come to life with the aid of close-ups are curiously muted by long-shots. As a script-writer, his characters are unidimensional and boring.

Which leaves us with his performance, which at the end of the day, isn't that great either.

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