Amy Acker steals indie film.
A couple of years ago Amy appeared in an indie film called The Novice which I despaired of ever seeing. Then last week, while scrolling through the onscreen tv guide I saw a listing for Crossroads. Had the recent Britney Spears movie been the only movie titled thus I would have kept going, but since there are many Crossroads out there I stopped to look. Someone, no doubt alarmed that there were only 42 previous movies titled Crossroads, did the noble thing and retitled The Novice to Crossroads.
The movie is the quite enjoyable story of a novice priest who must decide if he really wants to become a Jesuit. He’s working at a soup kitchen with Amy and, like myself and most right-hormoned men, falls for her.
Alan Arkin, Frank Langella and Orson Bean all play priests, but if you are religion-averse don’t let that keep you from the film. I don’t recall hearing God mentioned at all in the movie. The protagonist might as well be torn over whether to become a lion tamer for all faith has to do with the proceedings.
Still, it’s a fun movie. I think it was released on DVD December 9, 2008.
Whoot! Langella rocked the role of Richard Nixon. And Amy rocks all roles. Rock. Role. Sometimes I even surprise myself.
N2DQ with Crossroads XVII!
As it happens, the Q Lords have “Crossroads (The Novice)” available for streaming.
Amy Acker was radiant. Outshone Frank Langella and Alan Arkin and whoever that guy was. (My problem with the movie was I didn’t care for the main character. I cared a whole lot, however, about the love interest. I think I would have liked the seminarian if he had been a little more self-loathing and not so self-infatuated.)
Amy Acker brought such heart and soul! I’m feeling some awe.
Great acting is such a mystery to me. How do people communicate so much passion and urgency?
Yeah, I thought the main guy was lacking. Amy did indeed shine. I wish she worked more. One would think indie movie makers would have seen this movie and started ringing her phone off the hook.
One would think. It was hard not to fall for her hard.
He was an unusually passive central character. The big decisions were made for him, including the climactic one: what’s he going to do with the next year of his life? Priest tells him he can’t be a novice, urges him to go work at the soup kitchen, and he kind of accepts it.
Basically, she was a much more interesting character. She knew what she wanted and was willing to make choices that sacrificed some of what she wanted for what she knew she needed. And he drifted.