Faith and Film

“I have been writing movie reviews for years. I am particularly interested in movies with theological insights or pastoral implications. Many films also provide a good insight into the human condition. I have been a Dominican friar for over 30 years and bring my own theological and pastoral experience to my reviews. I also see films as part of media and contemporary popular culture.” -Tom Condon, O.P. (Provincial of St. Martin de Porres Province)

January 25, 2016

Faith and Film – Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Movie Review by Fr. Tom Condon, O.P.

No doubt you have heard about the much-anticipated new movie in the Star Wars franchise. In its first three weeks at the box office, it has shattered records everywhere, and been a hit with audiences and critics alike. As he has done with the most recent films in the Star Trek franchise, director J. J. Abrams has gone back to the source, and revived what made the original Star Wars movies such a sensation.

The Force Awakens begins rather slowly. It is 30 years after the original Star Wars. The Empire has been defeated, but now a new evil empire, called The First Order, is in control of much of the universe. Luke Skywalker has gone into self-imposed exile, after the last Jedi Warrior he trained, Kylo Ren, son of Han Solo, has gone to the Dark Side. With Luke, the last Jedi Warrior, still around, there is always the possibility that he will come out of exile and train more warriors. Therefore, the First Order is out to capture Luke, so there will be no threat to their power.
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January 12, 2016

Faith and Film: The Big Short

Movie Review by Fr. Tom Condon, O.P.

How much do you know about the mortgage bond crisis of 2007, leading to the steepest downturn in the economy since the Great Depression? If you are like me, you do not know much about it. I have degrees in psychology and theology, not economics. If you want to learn more about mortgage bonds and the stock market collapse, and be entertained at the same time, I recommend that you see the new movie The Big Short. It is a rather complex movie, weaving together parallel stories of “outsiders” who predicted the collapse, and amazingly tried to profit from it. So I found myself rooting for them, but, simultaneously, feeling rather sick about it. If they are right, then a lot of people will suffer.
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December 23, 2015

Faith and Film: The Letters

Movie review by Fr. Tom Condon, O.P.

The Letters is a new movie which tells the story of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. As a Sister of Loreto, Teresa taught at a school for well-to-do girls in Calcutta for years. She loved her students and the sisters she lived with. Yet, more and more she felt a call to be with the poor. In one scene, Teresa sees a hungry family from her classroom window. She goes to her kitchen, takes some vegetables, and gives them to the family in the street. Teresa is criticized by her superior for breaking cloister, but she only felt more drawn to working directly with the poor.
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December 15, 2015

Faith and Film: Brooklyn

Movie review by Fr. Tom Condon, O.P.

Brooklyn is a beautifully told story of Eilis (Saoirse Ronan), a young Irish woman who leaves her homeland to make a new life for herself in Brooklyn in the early 1950’s. With few prospects for herself in Ireland, Eilis leaves behind her mother and sister to sail alone across the Atlantic in search of a better life. The priest in her home town makes contact with Fr. Flood, an Irish priest in Brooklyn, who finds Eilis a place to live in a boarding house and a job in a department store.
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December 3, 2015

Faith and Film: Spotlight

Movie review by Fr. Tom Condon, OP

For many of us, Spotlight will be a hard movie to watch. While I admit that I did squirm through parts of Spotlight, I thought, on the whole, it was a balanced approach to a difficult subject. Spotlight tells the story of the Boston Globe’s investigation into the sexual abuse scandal in the Archdiocese of Boston. A series of articles was published in 2002 in the Globe which led to the resignation of Cardinal Law, and an overhaul of the way the church treats the issue. Spotlight shows how much has changed in the last 13 years, and is a thoughtful look at what we did wrong. More than anything else, it emphasizes the need for all of us, whether we are bishops (or even provincials), clergy, parishioners, lawyers, reporters, parents, and others, to be vigilant for the protection of children. My favorite line in the movie comes from Mitchell Garabedian, attorney for several victims, who says: “If it takes a village to raise them [children], it takes a village to abuse them.”
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