Growing up Southern Baptist (and by the way, the Duvall character in this film is a Holiness preacher for those who can't seem to tell the difference between it and Baptist), I witnessed many revivals and church meetings in which people were "saved." As I grew older, I grew apart from religion in general and am an Agnostic now. But I have to say that I've grown tired over the years of always seeing evangelical believers (mostly Southern) portrayed as morons and bigots. This film does an outstanding job at showing a "slice of life" among poor earnest believers. Duvall's performance is outstanding and worthy of Oscars. The Duvall character is an oddity, but the events that flow around him are realistic to anyone who has grown up in an environment similar to the one shown. The last scene is the best portrayal of the "salvation" experience I've ever seen on film. The realism of the film seems to turn some people off; no, most of the characters do not undergo "change." How many people in real life undergo radical sudden change? Hopefully, films like this one and "Slingblade" will create a Southern Film Renaissance much like the literary Renaissance of the early 20th Century.
Review of The Apostle
