Diary of a City Priest (2001) Online

...........................................................from Pasto,Colombia...Via: L.A. CA., CALI, COLOMBIA...and ORLANDO, FL

***** Possibly Contains 1 or 2 Minor Spoilers *****

Watched this with little or no expectation and was somewhat surprised. DIARY offers a very introspective look at how one particular "average" priest (good job, but not great, by David Morse) comes to grips with his own inner turmoil, self-doubt, and issues of faith and relevance in a secular age, in what has now become a predominantly non-Catholic neighborhood.

Anyone who considers themselves a spiritual person, any practicing or "fallen away" Catholic (my group), should find DIARY makes you reflect carefully on certain issues you might otherwise never have given a moments thought.

One scene I particularly enjoyed was when Morse's character is talking with another priest who begins describing how luscious some bikini-clad beach- goers look. His, "Hey, let's not go there, OK?!" reaction was simultaneously convincing, interesting and believable, considering his profession and vow of celibacy.

Don't expect much in the way of inner-city conflict or crime, because there really isn't any. 7* taken down to 6* because of one huge flaw. Based on the lead character's diary, the scenes where he was supposedly conversing with different saints were extremely awkward. They flat out didn't work. In all fairness to the movie, one would have to read the book to see whose fault that really was...

6*.....ENJOY/DISFRUTELA!

The first time I watched it seemed slow. I thought it was professionally done, and David Morse, as always, was solid.

The second time around it was simply moving. It's worth the effort to slow yourself down, and empathize with David Morse's character.

David Morse captures without overstatement the persona of a dedicated priest who follows his calling to serve in an inner city community parish. There is no sugarcoating the frustration and sorrow he must embrace in order to love and serve people on the distant frontier between urban poverty and mainstream America. The portraits of the priest, his parish staff, and his parishioners are so true to life that the director must know this scene first hand. No attempt is made to beatify the priest or to create artificial and unrealistic tales of triumph and redemption among his parishioners, and consequently the viewer's experiences of both tragedy and hope arise from what feels like the substratum of true human experience.

This short film is an awful adaption of Father John MacNamee's excellent non-fiction book, Diary of a City Priest. In the film, Father MacNamee is shown conversing with various saints who appear to him in visions, making him seem like a schizophrenic, which he is not. Furthermore, the film ignores Father MacNamee's struggles with the Catholic Church, including his refusal to serve as a strike breaker during a Catholic School teachers' strike, a decision which resulted in his being exiled from the Cathedral where he worked to an inner city parish. Do yourself a favor, read the book, ignore the movie.