Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"These are your options. There are no others.", July 21, 2005
Playwright Christopher Durang writes the blackest of black comedies and tackles some of the most emotionally devastating issues in life, often wresting humor from the strict Catholic upbringing of the main characters, which has left them unprepared to deal with the tragedies of their lives. In this 2000 film adaptation of Durang's 1981 Obie Award-winning play, Diane Keaton is Sister Mary, a hard-liner on church doctrine who brooks no compromise regarding interpretation of church dogma, stating that those who disagree with her will go to hell.
Four of Sister Mary's former students (played by Jennifer Tilly, Brian Benben, Wallace Langham, and Laura San Giacomo) arrive at her 25th anniversary celebration at a church hall, where, years ago, they performed their own version of the Christmas story. The four former students have found that Sister Mary's strict definitions of good and evil have not helped them to deal with their own emotionally devastating situations--abortion, rape, homosexuality, alcoholism, unwed motherhood, sexual abuse by a priest, thoughts of suicide, and the suffering of a loved one from cancer. Sister Mary does not hesitate to tell them that they are sinners who will go to hell.
"I believed you, how you said the world worked," one character says, as they confront her with the realities of their lives. In an increasingly emotional, but darkly humorous confrontation, she remains unmoved--"Every bad thing that happens, God has a special reason for." Unwilling to compromise in any way, Sister Mary, challenged, resorts to name-calling, screaming insults, and bullying. The irony of the climax is stunning and may offend some reader/viewers.
Diane Keaton plays Sister Mary as a strident and harsh teacher, but she also shows that Sister Mary herself is hanging onto doctrine for dear life in order to give her own life meaning. The supporting cast plays its roles with sensitivity, and Jennifer Tilly as the vulnerable Philomena is especially memorable for the emotion she shows welling up from within. Young Max Morrow, as an eight-year-old called upon to show off his knowledge of catechism, does a terrific job in a challenging role, especially when events reach their breaking point.
With the action taking place almost completely within the church hall, the film sticks close to the play in its staging, and through its consummate ironies, it taps into the bleakest of humor. The characters evoke empathy--both the disillusioned former students and Sister Mary herself--but Durang's quick pace and the outrageous disconnects allow his black humor to rise the surface. n Mary Whipple
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pain in my side GREAT!, May 8, 2005
i happened across this movie while out of town and bored on a rainy day. it was on the television and the first thing I heard was a smack to Catholisism that would make a grown man moan. It was great. I believe if you can not laugh at yourself then how can you laigh at others?
anyways, the wit and humor seeps from the movie like syrup onto your morning pancakes. If your down, tired, or just looking for a good laugh, you can't go wrong with this Sister.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dianne Keaton's Best Performance, February 1, 2005
This is a an interesting little piece, a one-act play shot as film.
The play is a direct assualt on American Catholicism, so if you don't want to sit through 90 minutes of every negative stereotype about abusive nuns in Catholic Schools, or simplistic challanges to the catachism on the issue of evil in the world then skip it.
But if you want to see what Dianne Keaton is capable of outside of the unfortunate type-casting she has been locked into since Annie Hall (fragile neurotic shiksa) then this is a must see. Curiously, Annie Hall was co-writtten by Marshall Brickman, the director of this film, so maybe they worked together on really letting Keaton take off.
Her raw animosity and energy are unnerving, as they are meant to be in the role. Give her sandles and a sword: move over Gladiator and Alexander!
The supporting cast are excellent in this stage play caught on film. Martin Mull makes a good appearance here as a citizen in the audience caught up in a Christmas Eve school pagent gone very wrong.
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