Father Stu (2022)
Storyline
The true-life story of boxer-turned-priest. When an injury ends his amateur boxing career, Stuart Long moves to Los Angeles to find money and fame. While scraping by as a supermarket clerk, he meets Carmen, a Sunday school teacher who seems immune to his bad-boy charm. Determined to win her over, the longtime agnostic starts going to church to impress her. However, a motorcycle accident leaves him wondering if he can use his second chance to help others, leading to the surprising realization that he's meant to be a Catholic priest.
Directors
Cast
Mark Wahlberg, Ned Bellamy, Malcolm McDowell, Annie Lee, Mel Gibson, Carlos Leal, Jacki Weaver, Winter Ave Zoli, Ronnie Gene Blevins, Penny L. Moore, Niko Nicotera, Annet Mahendru, Teresa Ruiz, Aaron Moten, Michael Fairman, Pablo Ramos, Cody Fern, Mathew Trent Hunnicutt, Faith Jefferies, Alain Uy, Molly Baker, Chiquita Fuller, Mariah Maison, Tyler Burke, Skip Howland, Betsy Moore, Tenz McCall
Trailer
Reviews
75
Father Stu breaks no new ground in the biopic game, but it’s a solid and worthy tribute to the real-life Father Stu, who continued to do the Lord’s work until his death in 2014 at the age of 50.
50
Although this true story (even if embellished a bit by the filmmakers) inevitably builds some emotion, it ends up feeling more banal than spiritually exalting.
50
Father Stu is not your everyday Hollywood religious odyssey — it’s closer to “Diary of a Country Cutup.” It’s a surprisingly sincere movie about religious feeling, but it is also, too often, a dramatically undernourished one.
50
Ultimately, Father Stu is a movie about faith, but some kinds of faith have limits. So does casting. Wahlberg as a seminarian is one kind of stretch.
50
It’s a remarkable story, but “Father Stu” is a broad, somewhat brutish film.
