Father Stu
Mark Wahlberg and Mel Gibson give their best performances in ages with "Father Stu."
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As a liberal agnostic I would seem the least likely candidate to respond to a religious biopic fronted by two conservative Catholics with spotty pasts (Mark Wahlberg and Mel Gibson). In spite of this, “Father Stu” (now playing in theaters) largely worked for me.
Wahlberg stars as Stuart Long, a Montana-based boxer whose body cannot withstand any more beatings. At the behest of his mother Kathleen (the always-welcome Jacki Weaver) – who’s already lost one child – he gives up the fight game.
With no discernible skills beyond pugilism and nary a pot to piss in nor a window to throw it out, Stu blindly pursues the American dream by moving out to Hollywood with hopes of breaking into the movie biz as an actor. It’s here where Stu begrudgingly reconnects with his estranged father Bill (Gibson), makes ends meet by cutting meat at a grocery’s butcher department and meets lovely Sunday school teacher Carmen (Teresa Ruiz, “The Marksman”). Smitten, Stu knows if he wants to get into Carmen’s panties he’s gonna have to embrace the Papacy, so he begins logging real deal pew time.
After a particularly dire, life-threatening motorcycle accident, Stu wholeheartedly embraces the Catholic faith and opts to become a priest much to the chagrin Kathleen, Bill and Carmen, who had hoped to marry him. While at seminary Stu makes a friend out of Ham (Aaron Moten of HBO’s “The Night Of”), a foe out of Jacob (frequent Ryan Murphy collaborator Cody Fern) and raises the eyebrows of Monsignor Kelly (Malcolm McDowell). Just as Stu’s making headway in his education, he’s diagnosed with inclusion body myositis, an inflammatory muscle disease that could threaten his dream of joining the diocese.
“Father Stu” is the feature screenwriting and directorial debut of Rosalind Ross, Gibson’s real-life partner and baby mama. Despite some missteps along the way (the picture’s entirely too long at 2 hours and 4 minutes, I admittedly enjoyed the movie more when it focused on Stu being a ne’er-do-well, there are jokes and gags that could be deemed homophobic or transphobic, Wahlberg’s late movie makeup job depicting weight gain laughably reminded me of the Klumps or Sharon Stone at the conclusion of “Alpha Dog”), she’s off to an auspicious start. Ross’ script is often profanely funny and she’s conjured the finest performances this critic has seen from Wahlberg and Gibson in ages. (Seeing Wahlberg in the ring or Gibson drunk in a trailer with a handgun smartly recalls some of their best works, i.e. “The Fighter” and “Lethal Weapon” respectively.) The film often feels akin to 1970s works of Hal Ashby and Bob Rafelson in that it’s unapologetically un-PC and takes its sweet-ass time telling its tale.
Wahlberg must’ve been hell-bent on having Weaver play his mother (he and writer/director David O. Russell, who’d previously collaborated on “Three Kings,” “I Heart Huckabees” and the aforementioned “The Fighter,” had a falling out after the filmmaker opted to have Bradley Cooper headline “Silver Linings Playbook”) and she’s reliably great here. Ruiz calls to mind an early-career Salma Hayek, which is to say she’s definitely going places. Moten lends the proceedings great warmth with little material. Fern is gifted interesting wrinkles to play that make his character entirely more sympathetic. Aces needle drops from Johnny Cash and Sturgill Simpson don’t hurt matters either.
“Father Stu” will likely go over big in Middle America with religious conservatives who count themselves among the Fox News crowd so long as they can withstand the litany of F-bombs that are thrown about as liberally Stu’s fists in the ring. The same part of me that responded to Netflix’s “The Ranch” reacted to Wahlberg’s little movie that could positively.