Film Review – Father Stu

“Father Stu” tells the story of Stuart Long, a rough-around-the-edges guy who stumbled through life as a boxer and a man of dented charms who suddenly found his calling to the priesthood, taking him on a much different journey. It’s a bio-pic that’s more about the odyssey of life than select moments of drama, with writer/director Rosalind Ross (making her feature-length debut as a filmmaker) trying to identify the power of persistence and faith, as Long was eventually diagnosed with a muscle disease that threatened everything he was working for. “Father Stu” isn’t typical Christian entertainment, with Ross keeping things raw and as real as possible while still trying to engage her audience, often going to comedy to remain approachable. She has a faithful servant in star Mark Wahlberg, who goes about as far as he can as an actor here, working extra hard to deliver a performance that respects the development of Long’s unique determination to be of service to others while saving himself. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com