[Screen It]

 

"THE THIRD MIRACLE"
(2000) (Ed Harris, Anne Heche) (R)

If you've come from our parental review of this film and wish to return to it, simply click on your browser's BACK button.
Otherwise, use the following link to read our complete Parental Review of this film.

QUICK TAKE:
Drama: While investigating whether a laywoman should be considered as a candidate for sainthood, a disillusioned priest finds himself questioning his own faith, particularly when he becomes involved with the woman's nonreligious, adult daughter.
PLOT:
It's 1979 and Frank Shore (ED HARRIS) is a postulator for the Catholic Church, although the fact that this middle-aged priest continually questions his own faith makes some wonder if he's the right choice for investigating reports of religious miracles.

Nonetheless, and due to a history of successfully debunking enough such occurrences that Frank's earned the nickname, "The Miracle Killer," Bishop Cahill (CHARLES HAID) assigns him to investigate reported miracles at St. Stanislaus in Chicago. There, Father Paul Panak (KEN JAMES) has reported various inexplicable occurrences, including a statue of the Virgin Mary that weeps blood, ever since the death several years earlier of a charitable, immigrant laywoman, Helen O'Regan (BARBARA SUKOWA).

As such, Frank must not only investigate the supernatural occurrences, but also determine whether Helen should be considered for sainthood in the Catholic Church. Thus, he begins researching the various miracles, including one involving Maria Witkowski (CATERINA SCORSONE), a prostitute and addict who was miraculously cured of a terrible disease when she was a young girl. He also meets Helen's adult daughter, Roxanna (ANNE HECHE), a bitter, nonreligious young woman who still harbors ill feelings toward her mother for leaving her while a teen to work for the Church, and thinks consideration of her as a saint is pathetic.

With the aide of Brother Gregory (JAMES GALLANDERS) who serves as his assistant detective of sorts, Frank continues his difficult quest all while discussing his own faith-related problems with fellow priest John Leone (MICHAEL RISPOLI). Despite their differences and varying beliefs and the potential for such a romance clouding his judgment, Frank also finds himself falling for Roxanna.

Eventually, however, he must face a Vatican-appointed committee led by Cardinal Sarrazin (JEAN-LOUIS ROUX) that also includes Archbishop Werner (ARMIN MUELLER-STAHL), known as the "Devil's Advocate" and his staunch doubts - especially related to the possibility of an American saint. They not only question Frank's findings regarding Helen, but also his qualifications for leading such an investigation. Despite mounting objections, the obligatory and necessary three miracles for consideration of sainthood, and in spite of his and other's doubts about himself, Frank continues on his steadfast course to make sure Helen has her posthumous shot of becoming a saint.

OUR TAKE: 6 out of 10
Just like oil and water, cats and dogs, and most members of Congress, religion and Hollywood often don't mix that well, at least in the minds and beliefs of those who feel they've been slighted or attacked. While not every such related picture falls into this category, and such opinions have been and continue to be debatable, religion isn't always used in the greatest light in many Hollywood productions.

Whether it's for comedy as in the controversial "Dogma," or supernatural horror in films such as "The Exorcist" and "Stigmata," religion and/or religious officials - often involving Catholicism - aren't always portrayed in positive way and one can see why some people are offended and get upset over such portrayals and representations.

While Agnieszka Holland's latest film, "The Third Miracle" probably won't be seen as a blindly enthusiastic cheerleader for organized religion, those who have had problems with those other sorts of films will probably find this one a bit more acceptable.

The story of a disillusioned priest's quest to prove one woman's faith while sorting out his own, the film offers a more realistic and believable portrayal of religion as it pertains to one individual. A mixture of introspective drama with bits of forbidden romance, and a traditional detective-type story with some paranormal activity, there's plenty of potential here and the film often delivers on at least some of it.

To appease the film's possible detractors, it does contain various religious characters in the roles of the bad guys, or villains if you will. Yet, most of the characters - including our self-doubting hero - are of the same flock. More important, if there is to be conflict and the necessary obstacles to impede our hero's goal and generate some tension, by default most of the antagonists consequently have to be religious-related folk. As a result, their portrayal here is both understandable and acceptable and therefore doesn't reek of religion bashing.

In addition and despite its supernatural underpinnings - at least as far as miracles are concerned - those who are looking for the big special effects and supernatural fireworks are apt to be disappointed with what this film has to offer in regards to that (sorry, there are no rotating heads, bass-heavy Latin vocals or sudden bouts of cold air that produce chilled breath visuals).

With the "eeriest" moments being blood coming from the eyes of a statue, Holland ("Washington Square," "Europa, Europa"), who works from a script by John Romano (a TV writer making his film debut) and Richard Vetere (whose novel of the same name is the source material for this film), does a decent job of keeping things interesting and smartly uses the supernatural moments as bits of interesting subtext for what follows instead of the highlights of the film.

Unfortunately, and in yet another case of bad cinematic timing, the film's basic plot is rather similar to that of "Stigmata" (both involve a Catholic official being assigned to investigate religious paranormal events). Fortunately, that's where the comparisons end, in that the former took a chintzy, MTV style approach at horror, whereas this one is much more laid back, understated and certainly far better. Much of that's due to the film's focus on the troubled protagonist and the terrific actor inhabiting the part.

Although the disillusioned priest plotline isn't particularly novel, it's handled quite well here and adds a nice complexity to the proceedings. With Frank battling his self-doubts and questioning his faith, but continuing his quest to have a woman canonized for hers, the effect is nicely handled and provides for some interesting internal conflict being expressed in an external fashion.

Most of that can be attributed to the solid and often terrific performance by Ed Harris ("The Truman Show," "Apollo 13"). I've always admired and enjoyed the actor's work (it's a shame he's yet to take home an Oscar) and here he does a more than credible job balancing understated moments with those featuring far more volatility and passion (especially in the "courtroom" scenes).

What doesn't work so well is the romance between his character and the one played by actress Anne Heche ("Volcano," "Wag the Dog"). Having nothing to do with the fact that she's a lesbian (after all, she's an actress playing a part and those same issues were addressed and answered in her performance with Harrison Ford in "Six Days, Seven Nights"), the problem is that the chemistry between the two not only doesn't feel completely convincing, but also often comes off as artificial and forced (not to mention clearly rushed).

Although in concept the notion of a priest succumbing to passion and then having to worry to some degree about a conflict of interest not only with his vows, but also his efforts to have this woman's mother canonized is interesting in theory and/or on paper, it doesn't work that well here in execution. While Heche does a decent job portraying the estranged and still bitter daughter, her character often feels like more of a plot element than a natural development.

Another problem the film faces is that it doesn't maintain its momentum throughout and occasionally suffers from some dead or near-dead moments. That said, there are enough that are quite electric and riveting to make up for and/or balance out the less successful ones.

Supporting performances are generally solid, with Armin Mueller-Stahl ("Jakob the Liar," "The Thirteenth Floor") capably playing an unlikable archbishop (although at times he's a bit too condescending - a little less and he would have been far more interesting), Charles Haid (best known for his role on TV's "Hill Street Blues") doing something of the same, and Caterina Scorsone (a TV actress) believably inhabiting the grownup version of a recipient of a childhood miracle gone bad.

While the picture is far from perfect and may be a bit slow for some viewer's tastes, it offers a terrific performance from Harris and an interesting look at a troubled man's inner battles, mixed with a part detective, part paranormal story, that purposefully leaves the ending satisfactorily unresolved. Although that might not sit well with some moviegoers, it only further stresses the notion of what constitutes faith. A such, we give "The Third Miracle" a 6 out of 10.




Reviewed February 4, 2000 / Posted February 11, 2000


Privacy Statement and Terms of Use and Disclaimer
By entering this site you acknowledge to having read and agreed to the above conditions.

All Rights Reserved,
©1996-2023 Screen It, Inc.