"The Rite" Review

Being the first movie I saw in 2011, “The Rite” set a good benchmark for the rest of the year. When I first saw the trailer, I knew I was interested since any movie about Devil’s and sin is right my alley. Plus it stared one of my favorite actors of all time: Anthony Hopkins.  Hopkins is phenomenal as Father Lucas, a renowned exorcist in Rome, who is eventually possessed by the Devil himself. The movie is based off a book about exorcisms entitled “The Making of a Modern Exorcist”, and is about the authors experience taking a seminar in the Vatican, based on exorcisms. So the movie is based more on facts than sheer imagination, and this is a positive thing. My initial concern heading into the movie was I that I was afraid there was going to be blood and gore, since it would have thrown off the psychological experience. I was also concerned it might be a copy of the original movie “The Exorcist. “ My prayers (no pun intended) were answered and my demon was free (ok pun intended  J). The scenes in which the exorcisms were preformed, the possessions were intriguing and held my interest. However, it was not until Hopkins was possessed towards the end of the movie, that my mind was grasped. Here Hopkins shines and is as excellent as ever, as he performs the role of the great deceiver himself, the devil. Hopkins trades insults and jeers lies towards his co-actors with such sincerity and eeriness that it is hard to take your eyes off him and you’re upset when the camera does not show him.  Without giving away the plot, the movie is not horror as it is more characteristic of a psychological thriller. The film did scare me into the abyss or make me lose any sleep, but it was entertaining and did make me more interested in exorcisms. If that is what the movie set out to do, than it does a good job. Overall, I would recommend it and based on five stars I would rate it 2.5.