The Rite
A brilliantly barnstorming performance from Anthony Hopkins.
1408 director Mikael Håfström takes on an exorcism horror, despite the inevitable Exorcist comparisons. Trouble is, there isn't really anywhere else for a filmmaker to go, and the same story is told over and over. What The Rite does boast is a brilliantly barnstorming performance from Anthony Hopkins, back with his first memorable performance in years. A shame it suffers from the lassitude of his co-star, Colin O'Donoghue. The Irish theatre actor makes his big screen debut as trainee priest Michael Kovak, sent to the Vatican to study exorcism when his faith wavers.
Rutger Hauer is a small but weighty presence as Kovak's father, as it opens at the family-run funeral parlour. Håfström instills these scenes with a reverence for the dead, creating an oppressive and unsettling atmopshere. When Kovak is relocated to the Vatican, Håfström's flair starts to gradually regress. Kovak is then introduced to Hopkins' controversial Father Lucas.
Lucas is a legendary exorcist, who operates from his dingy, creaky home. Kovak observes his ongoing case, a young, heavily pregnant Italian girl. Marta Gastini is an astounding victim of possession, her doe eyes filled with terror. These scenes, while not stunningly original, are adequately disturbing to witness, but the tension is broken by Hopkins' amusingly flippant attitude.
Hopkins is riveting throughout as the pregnant girl's case tips him over the edge, but the story has to be carried by O'Donoghue. Alas, he has no place on the big screen - bland and expressionless. By no means a bad actor, just one too afraid and unaware of his character's surroundings. It ends with an anticlimactic showdown that is faintly ridiculous given the understated creepiness in the build up, leaving The Rite an unrewarding experience.
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