Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment / 2007 / 90 Minutes / PG
Street Date: November 8, 2008
Cold and impatient priest, Father Jonathan Keene (David Wall), arrives in a tiny fishing village the week before Christmas to do what he does best: shut down a dying parish. But things take an unexpected turn as he becomes entangled in the lives of the village’s eccentric congregation and discovers a love that shakes the secrets festering under his own foundations.
David Wall wrote, directed, starred, and co-executive produced this feature. Luckily, the film does not come off as a vanity project. Wall’s Father Keene is not an appealing character given his coldness and indifference. Yet we begin to discover clues about the origins of Father Keene’s rotten attitude. His simmering anger isn’t about a loss of faith; he’s simply collapsing under a guilt from his past.
The parish’s priest, an unorganized but loveable Father Simeon (Sean Patrick Brennan), perceives Keene’s self-loathing and confronts him frequently. Add a beautiful woman in jeopardy and Simeon’s defenses betray him as his authentic self emerges.
Wall has constructed a relatively unique story that plays out fairly well. The Christmas season is more like set dressing, but there are elements of Christmas interwoven in the plot. I was drawn into this little town and became curious about all of the characters. David Wall casts himself well as the simmering priest and looks astonishingly like a morphed version of Robert Redford and Brad Pitt – I kid you not.
But since breezy Sean Patrick Brennan’s Father Simeon has the most appeal, I kept expecting the story to focus on him. Knowing almost nothing about the film, I soon began feeling like the icy Father Keene was intruding on a more interesting story about Father Simeon. Wrong. The ending wraps itself up in a fair manner, but I was traveling down a different emotional track. That was my fault; I overlooked certain clues.
While this film was likely produced on a very limited budget, the photography, editing, acting, and production values are well done; this is an easy film to watch. Director of photography Beecher Cotton captures pleasing lighting and compositions in the church, the frosty streets, molten sunsets over motes, and Thomas Kinkade-like cozy homes buried in snow and Christmas lights. Cotton also takes over editing responsibilities and maintains a snappy pace while capturing the right amount of emotional moments. Wall directs this film nicely; the actors and scenes seem free from noticeable restrictions. Jesse Low’s unit production management maintains a convincing and distinct location feel throughout the entire film.
The film also offers a lightness that includes a sprinkling of comedic bits, like bickering older churchgoers. The film is aimed at families; it lacks profanity and potentially offensive material. But the themes are more adult in nature and might bore Disney-loving toddlers.
The Video: How Does The Disc Look?
The film’s theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 is presented in anamorphic video. The color palette is well rendered from the church’s vibrant stained glass to the misty, sleepy river at dusk. Skin tones appear properly balanced. The video dynamic range is well displayed from the sharp, white snowy blizzard’s decrescendo to absolute inky deep blacks. However, stronger-than-normal black crush occurs during most evening scenes, obscuring shadow detail. Small object detail is acceptable. The best finely grained textures are during many of the actors’ close ups. The film is very clean and lacks grain (except for around one hour fourteen minutes) and appears to have been filmed digitally. Edge halos are not noticeable and no compression problems arose. Overall, this is a fairly solid presentation.
The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?
The disc includes a Dolby Digital 5.1 track. Some nice stereo separation is noticeable among the front speakers creating realistic imaging. Father Keene zooms through scenes (sometimes crashing) on a little moped that has good dynamics and persuasive pans. Highs are clean, though not too airy, but the bottom end is bland and mild-mannered. Dialogue is usually very clear and natural sounding, but I did have to throw up subtitles a few times because of mumbling. As often is the case with audio tracks, the score, Andrew Ingkavet’s lilting composition, sounds the best and sometimes almost alive with jazzy piano, bass, and drums. The surrounds inject a bit of ambience at best; they remain a missed opportunity given the echo of the church, the swirling snowstorms, and the chattering Christmas party. The audio is reasonable and there is nothing wrong with it, but it certainly isn’t as enveloping as it could be.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
Trailers: Hotel for Dogs, It’s a Wonderful Life (newly restored and digitally remastered… and colorized), Spiderwick Chronicles, and Charlotte’s Web.
The film has a website that includes six interviews, cast bios, promotion pictures, and more of its own trailers. None are linked from this DVD.
The 90-minute film is organized into nine chapters.
Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What happens when you pop the disc into your PC?
There are no DVD-ROM features on this DVD.
Final Thoughts
God is just about out of the picture; the film focuses on the challenges of clashing priests trying to manage a dying parish and one priest’s self-discovery. The film is a bit more adult than one might expect from the themes, but it’s easily watchable. The final act may be cleverly written, but somehow the film never seems to resonate with me. The picture quality is generally solid, the audio is fine but front heavy, and supplements are just trailers. Overall, the story is different and interesting enough to give the Christmas season genre a decent shot in the arm.
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