Review: Mark Wahlberg stars in the spiritless 'Father Stu'
12.04.2022 - 18:23
/ abcnews.go.com
Easter, Mark Wahlberg is offering us a gift as sweet as a box of Peeps or a chocolate rabbit — and just as nutritious.“Father Stu” is a loving biopic of a one-time real-life hell-raising, blue-collar hustler who somehow becomes a white-collared Roman Catholic priest. So why is it ultimately as hollow as that chocolate bunny?You can instantly see why Wahlberg — the star, executive producer and financier — was attracted.
“Father Stu” is right in his wheelhouse, from his character's love of amateur boxing to his meathead humor. And as an ardent Catholic, this is his Hollywood message film flex, his “The Passion of the Christ.” He even brought Mel Gibson along.But Wahlberg is simply miscast, out of his depth, and the overly long, poorly edited “Father Stu” never finds its rhythm.
Good at humor, sweet with regret but the film ironically ends up short when it comes to the most important part: handling faith itself.Based on the extraordinary life of the real Stuart Long, audiences first meet a hardscrabble boxer in Montana whose career in the ring has stalled and so has his immune system. “Your body is telling you not to fight,” a doctor tells him.Naively, Long packs up and goes to Hollywood to make his mark.
“I was born to perform. It just took time to find my stage,” he tells his mother (Jacki Weaver, great).Long has his demons — a younger brother who died too young and his parents' divorce.
“Last thing I need is another father to fail for,” he says later as he closes in on the priesthood.While working in a supermarket meat department and dreaming about his big break, he spies one day a lovely lady (Teresa Ruiz), a Catholic Sunday school teacher. Impressing her leads him to the church.A horrific motorcycle accident that puts
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