Father Stu (2022)

 'Father Stu' is based on the true story of Stuart Long, a Montana based boxer turned Roman Catholic priest. After a jaw injury ended his boxing career Stuart moved to California in hopes of launching a new life as an actor. He got a few bit parts in things but largely supported himself through more conventional work. After being nearly killed in a motorcycle accident, Stuart reassessed his life and converted to Catholicism at the urging of his Roman Catholic girlfriend. They planed to marry but unexpectedly Stuart found himself feeling called to the priesthood. While in seminary he was diagnosed with Inclusion Body Myositis a rare autoimmune disease similar in symptoms to ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease. Stuart completed his course work and was ordained a priest, he died at age 50 in 2014.

While Stuart had many difficulties in his life the film seems to play them up further and maybe even add some. In the movie he lost a younger brother at the age of six, I haven't been able to find anything online indicating that this really happened. Stuart was also more successful in his pre conversion life then the movie shows, he was a college graduate with a degree in English literature and managed a Pasadena art museum for seven years. Mark Wahlberg plays him as more or less a lunkhead. 

Stuart overcomes so many things in this movie that had the name not already been used by another Christian film a good alternate title here would be 'Overcomer'. This picture does work as a conversion story, it's nicely paced, relaxed in tone, and interestingly not over preachy, it plays more like an inspiring sports movie then pious hagiography. In fact it probably sets a record for F-bombs dropped in a Christian movie. At one point David O. Russell was set to write and direct. 

Winning supporting turns by Teresa Ruiz as Stu's girlfriend, and the always great Jackie Weaver as his mom. Mel Gibson plays Stuart's dad and I again ask myself how this man is still making movies. Devout Catholicism seems to be a major driver for Wahlberg's and Gibson's presence in the film. Gibson's daughter in law Annet Mahendru appears in the film, in vision as the virgin Marry. 

An uneven picture but on the whole I enjoyed it, Mark Wahlberg gives an extremely invested performance and along with some solid supporting work and a gruffer then normal tone for a Christian film, that pretty much carries it. **1/2