Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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57 of 63 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Superbly made documentary, even and unbiased, May 15, 2007
Oliver O'Grady is a pedophile who preyed on girls and boys for almost thirty years, was sentenced to fourteen years in prison for his crimes, served seven, and is now living in Ireland where he doesn't need to register anywhere as a sex offender (and indeed, the family he's currently living with knows nothing of his past - although I gather they do now), and lives in semi-comfort from an annuity provided to him by the Catholic church.
Oh, and he was a priest. A Catholic priest.
Oh, yeah, and his diocese was fully aware of his pedophilia, may have been aware of it prior to his donning the robes, and shuffled him around from parish to parish, in one instance even promising the police that in his next position he would not have contact with children. On that last one, they lied. His "next position" placed him in full charge of nearly half a county of Catholics.
What was most surprising to me while watching this documentary, presented evenly and without prejudice by Amy Berg (and nominated for an Oscar for Best documentary), was that I was only mildly surprised by most of the information presented. At the end of the film we are told that a bishop who held several positions of office in the diocese during O'Grady's "tenure", Bishop Mahoney, now presides over a diocese where there are more than five hundred and fifty (yes - 550) pending charges against priests for pedophilia. And O'Grady's annuity is likely a payoff for his silence. Were he to testify to what HE knows regarding what the DIOCESE knew (they claim to know little), we assume that the diocese, Bishop Mahoney, and countless other heads would roll. How comforting to know that an organization beset with pedophiles can still buy itself a bit of peace and quiet.
The documentary is comprised of a number of interviews with victims, victim's family members, depositions given by Bishop Mahoney and a Monsignor, commentary from lawyers for the victims family, a theologian, a psychologist specializing in priest abuse, explanations from Thomas Doyle (a former priest who was fired from two positions presumably because he spoke up for the rights of the victims), all of which is interspersed with a long interview with the pedophile himself: Oliver O'Grady.
O'Grady will strike you as charming and affable, and until you hear evidence given that he physically molested an infant (this means insertion, and not with his finger), you're almost willing to buy his reformed act. You'll hear testimony from victim's families that he charmed his way into their homes, even sleeping with a parent on one occasion, to get closer to his victims. It seems that he spent more time maneuvering and grooming his victims than he did ministering - he admits he wasn't much of a counselor, something for which families often turn to their priests. In the end, he will appear insouciant.
While I said that not much surprised me, it doesn't mean the material didn't move me. The comments from one father brought tears of rage to my chest. He railed against the priest, against the church, finally denouncing his belief in God (to which his daughter, the victim, cried), and one can hear the guilt pounding in his soul. His family allowed O'Grady to spend the night at his house, and while everyone else was asleep, O'Grady was in their daughter's bedroom, molesting her, starting at the age of five. I tried to imagine what that would feel like, and couldn't.
One wonders what it will take before real reform in the Catholic church occurs. If it happens tomorrow, it's too late, but for the thousands who aren't being protected right now, let's hope.
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39 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
decide for yourself, October 15, 2006
Maybe it's not fair for me to review a film I was honored to both edit and serve as one of the producers. But no less fair than the first review -- scribed by Tod Tamberg, the official spokesperson for the archdiocese of Los Angeles.
I won't pick apart his "facts" one by one. Director Amy Berg has already done so, numerous times in the press.
The only one I'll highlight is a statement which best serves as an example of how far some will go to disparage the film and director:
Mr. Tamberg claims above that Amy Berg used "special effects... placing O'Grady at a playground full of children". Why or how he came to that conclusion is pure fantasy. O'Grady was really there. In Ireland. Free. And able to roam near children, un-supervised. Amy Berg chose to document this on camera because the story needs to be brought to public attention. The shot causes outrage because the situation is outrageous. And the only special effect at play is the illusion Mr. Tamberg wishes to cast forth -- that this film is "entertainment" and that the long-standing horrific problem of pedophile priests in the Catholic church is a "conspiracy theory".
Amy and the producers of this documentary, including one who is a practicing Catholic, were adamant about keeping the story fair, factual and accurate.
For those who see the film, you will be inspired by the incredible words, wisdom and leadership of Catholic Priest Thomas Doyle. He is our hero and in my personal opinion, a better spokesperson.
Matthew Cooke
Editor / Producer
Deliver Us From Evil
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23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gut Wrenching, October 26, 2006
I don't cry easily, but there are scenes in this movie that tear your heart out and you will probably never forget. This is definitely not a film for everyone. You can see, in all its emotional rawness, the toll pedophilia takes on a victim and their family: the shame, the self-blame, and the loss of faith. These scenes are in contrast with interviews with O'Grady himself. If you met O'Grady on the street, one's impression would probably be of a kindly, old Irish gentlemen who may have done a few wrong things in his life. But behind this gentlemenly veneer is a monster who is so egotistical that he believes his former victims would like to reconcile with him. Of course, the other character in the film is the Catholic Church, which cannot seem to grasp that you can't enable pedophiles and still serve the community in good faith. The Church comes off as egotistical as O'Grady: we need to hide these dirty deeds in order to present a nice face to the public and help them along on salvation.
The one criticism of the film I had is the psychological speculation on why priests abuse. This is just theorizing by the psychological community and detracts from the rest of the film. Instead it comes off as an agenda for priests to marry. The film would be better served by sticking to the story: priest abuse and enabling by the Catholic Church.
I find it odd that Tom Tamberg claims that the Church is also a victim of O'Grady. Such a statement might be believeable if the O'Grady case was an isolated incident, but the pattern of abuse and denial by the Church over a wide variety of pedophile cases makes any claim completely incredible. Instead Tamberg's arguments belong in the pile with the rest of the refusals to take responsibility, which is why this endemic pedolphilia problem arose in the first place.
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