Product Details

• Actors: Matthew Simon (IV), Father Stephen Stanbery, Tony Comes, Firass Dirani, Jeff Anderson (XV)
• Directors: Kirby Dick
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Unknown), Spanish (Unknown)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Hbo Home Video
• DVD Release Date: February 21, 2006
• Run Time: 87 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000BBOUAO
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #134,153 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Twist of Faith" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

There's no easy way to address a highly charged subject like the sexual abuse of young boys by Catholic priests, but with Twist of Faith, director Kirby Dick has taken a straightforward approach, using neither fanfare nor frills to create an unflinching but highly personal documentary about this disgraceful episode. The 2004 film's focus is on one place, Toledo, Ohio, and primarily on two men. On the one hand, there's fireman Tony Comes, mid-thirties, married with two kids. Some twenty years earlier, he'd been molested by his then-priest; callow, impressionable, in need of love, Comes found himself in a situation he describes as "too screwed up to question," with the result that he was "so confounded that (he did) nothing." On the other hand, there's Dennis Gray, the priest in question; a thoroughly repellent individual, Gray is seen in a 2003 legal deposition, evading questions on the advice of his lawyer. But Comes is far from silent. Having spent two decades racked with guilt and shame and thinking he was the only victim, Comes is galvanized into action when the abuse scandal becomes national news. He shows remarkable courage and honesty, keeping nothing from his wife and young kids, joining a support group, even visiting the cottage where Gray committed his unspeakable acts; determined to make not only the pedophile priests but those who ignored, lied about, and covered up the abuse acknowledge and take responsibility for what happened, he also files a lawsuit. All of this is done at considerable personal cost. What happened to Comes and the other victims we see here went even deeper than the nightmares and family problems they experienced; it shook their very souls, calling into question their lifelong faith in the essential benevolence of an institution that has betrayed them. Grim but compelling, Twist of Faith makes for very sobering viewing. --Sam Graham

Product Description

THIS TELLS THE STORY OF A MAN WHO CONFRONTS THE TRAUMA OF PASTSEXUAL ABUSE AS A BOY BY A PRIEST, ONLY TO FIND HIS DECISIONSHATTERS RELATIONSHIPS WITH HIS FAMILY, COMMUNITY & HIS FAITH.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Holy Toledo? March 3, 2006

By TundraVision

Format:DVD

As an adolescent, Tony Comes of Toledo, Ohio, was molested by a Roman Catholic priest. Tony is now a fireman, with a wife and 2 children, one of whom is soon to take First Communion. Through a cruel Twist of Fate, they discover that the Dream Home into which they have recently moved is only 5 doors down from Tony's former abuser - the unrepentant former priest, shown in his video deposition
Q: Why did you decide to go into the seminary?
A: I decided that it would be a good life if I was a priest.
Good for whom?
Church Ladies will not approve of Tony's "firehall" language - but then, they probably won't be watching. The scandal of serial abusive priests should be enough to P off the Pope. But one of the saddest things is, it's not. Too many priests and parishioners are in denial. This unflinching HBO documentary is not about the shameful statistics but the horrific and traumatic toll on actual lives of an abused altar boy and the "ripple effect." /TundraVision, Amazon Reviewer

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A revealing story of religion gone bad May 25, 2007

By Kyle Tolle VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

Tony Comes is a firefighter in Toledo, Ohio. As a teenager attending Central Catholic High School in the 1980's, he and others were repeatedly molested by priest and religion teacher Dennis Gray. Later in life when Tony, his wife, and 2 children move to a nice suburban neighborhood in Toledo, they're shocked to find that the serial child molester Dennis Gray now lives only 5 houses away from them on the same street.

In June of 2002, Tony met with Toledo diocese bishop James Hoffman to relate his story of sexual abuse. The bishop lied to Tony and stated that Dennis Gray had molested only him. Subsequent news reports attested to 6 additional men who reported they were molested by Dennis Gray at the same high school in the same time frame. Several of these victims are interviewed in this program. In September, Tony filed a lawsuit against the Catholic Church and in December he contacted the media.

The Catholic Church is shown to be very uncooperative with the media and attorneys in regards to these sensitive issues. This becomes clearer when information is discovered that a large, influential law firm working for the church has been silencing victims and quietly settling sexual abuse lawsuits for years all over Ohio. In fact, the church themselves knew all along about Dennis Gray and even other priests who were abusing children. The church, bishops, and priests all worked in collusion to cover it up until it was exposed by the media. Under canon law (the rules by which the Catholic Church lives by) priests are authorized to lie if it's in the best interests of the church to protect it from scandal.

In 2004, Tony and 21 other victims talked about a settlement with the Toledo diocese. Tony was eventually offered a paltry sum of 55,000 dollars which he reluctantly accepted. Only a few short weeks after this, it was discovered that the Toledo diocese had a stock portfolio worth over 100 million dollars.

The actual scope of this abuse perpetrated by priests is massive by any measure of the word. In a surprising act of honesty and revelation, a study commissioned by the U.S. Catholic Church showed that since 1950, there have been 11,750 reported cases of children who were sexually abused by 5,148 priests in the United States.

`Twist of Faith' is a sobering and heartbreaking documentary showing the guilt, pain, and suffering that was endured by Tony Comes and many resulting after effects that caused turmoil in his life and marriage. This is also a significant look at a legacy of deceit, corruption, and aberrant behavior in several elements of the Catholic Church.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Movie That's Tough To Watch January 12, 2009

By D. Holland

Format:DVD

Think you've had problems in your life? Meet Tony Comes. I thought the sex crimes committed by the priest were horrible, but the crime committed by the local diocese was even worse. There is no amount of money that can take away the pain and hurt that was inflicted on Tony, but an honest admission of guilt and willingness to repair the damage would have been a good place to start. The movie was informative and real - too real at times. I think God has reserved a special place in hell for people who use their "ministry" to perpetrate these criminal acts, and for the people who know about it and do nothing but lie and cover it up.
The movie is almost embarrasingly personal at times, showing scenes of human anguish that resonate long after the credits roll. I found myself thinking about it for weeks afterward, almost haunted by the evil that masqueraded as a servant of God. Tough to watch - impossible to forget.