Possessed (2000)

This would have been a really fine telefilm if only the director and/or screenwriter had made up their mind what kind of movie they wanted to make of this story. A subtle psychological drama where possession was only hinted at? Or an all-out, balls-to-the-wall action/revenge film (with holy water instead of M-16's)? About three fourths of the way through, this movie changes rather ludicrously from the former to the latter. In one particular non-dialogue moment, shortly after the two priests' pre-game pep talk in the monastery chapel, I was like, "No way. They DID NOT just go there!" (I won't give away what this moment was, but if you watch the DVD you'll know exactly what I mean.) That said, this is a very well produced and well acted project. Even though the tone shifts all over the place and is seriously off the chain at the end. Timothy Dalton gives a fine and accessible performance (albeit, as the type of priest that exists only in Hollywood -- the studly, hardbitten, chain-smoking, foul-mouthed, whisky-drinking, punch-throwing cynic with a Purple Heart and PTSD). His sometimes-American, sometimes-British accent is all over the map but you don't really notice after a while. By the end of the movie he is channeling Harrison Ford big time. He looks good and has several terrific scenes before everything goes completely over the cliff into silliness (the script and direction's fault, not his).Dalton is ably backed up by Henry Czerny as another priest, by Christopher Plummer as an archbishop, and the actor playing the possessed kid is quite good too. It's just such a shame that as the film goes on, every scene seems to be taken out of a different playbook (Serious Drama! Psychological Complexity! Rambo!) and the actors have to all keep up as best they can. The fine cast isn't wasted, so much as they are thrown this way, that way and the other way from scene to scene by the unfocused tone of the screenplay.This movie could have been so much better if they just canned a lot of the suggestive music, kept the emphasis on the psychological and the subtle (there ARE some subtly creepy moments that really work, at least in the first half), and canned the whole misguided "Raiders of the Lost Souls" crap at the end.The best compliment I can give this film, is that I would have liked to see a weekly series with Dalton and Czerny as priests solving murder mysteries or something. They made a good team.

One faces the inexplicable beyond the reaches of western scientificism and one reaches into the grey realm of faith and skepticism. Welsh born actor Timothy Dalton plays a persuasive American Irish priest Father Willam Bowden taking cover in superficial faith from the horrors of world war II; yet in pursuit of that faith, Father Willam Bowden comes directly into the grasp of Satan. He must struggle not only with Old Scratch but also with the Romanish Church hierarchy which despite its mideaval costumes and time worn ceremonies would like to modernize and depart from some of the smoke, fire and brimstone.Though Father Willam Bowden whose personal weaknesses particularly for alcohol are probably known might not be the best choice to perform the ancient ritual, Archbishop Hume (Christopher Plummer) chooses Rev Bowden to perform the rite.Can Reverend Bowden overcome both his past and the curlish Roman Church hierarchy more interested in political standing than preaching to drive away the Devil? See Possessed.

This film seems to inspire wildly varying responses. The only respondent who comes close to my response was the one who asked if it was supposed to be a goof. EXACTLY! Yet this writer still didn't like it very well.I thought POSSESSED was hilariously funny in places (the "Union forever" shot that riffs on Citizen Kane was probably my favorite). Robbie's wisecracks were also often quite funny, as well as the satiric presentation of his penny-pinching TV-zombie father, and the hapless clergyman who tries to use Robbie to make a name in the world of parapsychology. The humor is consistent but VERY dry, so that a casual viewer not expecting this from a "possession" film might miss it altogether. Yet despite the humor, the film did maintain an effectively creepy atmosphere, and it had something to say about the Cold-War Fifties. To me it was an impressive balancing act with fine acting from Dalton and Czerny, clever script, and nice directorial touches. Mixing humor and terror goes back to Hitchcock, of course, but very few filmmakers can carry off effectively. M. Night Shyamalan is the current master of it, and POSSESSED isn't in his class. But it's definitely worth checking out!

Sorry, I see a lot of you enjoyed this movie, but, I think it was one of the most awful cheezoid productions I've ever wasted two hours of my life watching (and, for reference, I saw "The Tuxedo").Timothy Dalton's acting (or, should I say, overacting) was tortured, belabored, and felt very ungenuine. He wasn't acting as if he were a priest; he was acting as if he were wearing a priest suit.The little possessed boy was the only one who stood a chance. He acted wonderfully. However, the non-existent technical direction made me cringe: the entire audio department on this movie should have to write letters of apology. When I saw the movie earlier this week, I thought it had been made in 1980, so poor were the technical details.If I had to choose between Possessed and The Exorcist, The Exorcist would win, hands down, every day of the week and twice on Sundays. It was, at least, entertaining.