Catholic-ometer: 2.5 of 5
Enjoyability: 4 of 5
It's strange. When I finished watching this movie for the first time, I remember really enjoying it, but having had some time to think it over, I realize that this movie really has nothing that Bakhita didn't have, and, in fact, is just a tad bit worse in some areas.
This movie is made by the same director who did Bakhita and St. Giuseppe Moscatti, and I can't say I'm surprised. Those films, like this one, were largely sensational pieces intended to amuse, but contained little or nothing that resembled the lives of the real people they were named after. This film claims to be about Saint Philip Neri, and as usual, it has nothing to do with him.
St. Philip Neri was a very holy man who, at first, wanted to go to India as a missionary, but eventually decided to stay in Rome, where he started a secular club of sorts for educated Catholics who wanted to learn about God. It had fairly lenient regulations, and he himself was a joyful man who believed that everyone else should strive for joy as well; particularly in prayer and worship.
Regrettably, he's not the star of this movie.
What we have, instead, is a very holy man who, at first, wanted to go to India as a missionary, but no positions were open, so he had to stay in Rome. There, he runs into a gang of kids and spends some time caring for them and trying to raise them right. Hijinks and misadventures ensue with the children, before and after reaching adulthood, and most of the story centers around them. What little has to do with the film's title character is either wrapped up in his relationships with the kids, or in charity work with the poor and destitute, as though he were Mother Theresa, or in warding off a militant cardinal of the church who manages to sick two popes on him. He then needs to satisfy both of them somehow to keep everything running.
Neri has something of a catchphrase throughout this movie "be good, if you can." As far as I can tell, this disgusting catchphrase was never attributed to him, and shouldn't have been allowed to pass through the dark depths of the pen used by whoever wrote this movie. It's one of the worst things about this film.
Another of the worst things about the movie is, as I've said, the repeated use of the church hierarchy as the villains. It'd be one thing if it actually happened that way, but I've never read anything that would indicate that. I won't say that higher-ups within the church never abuse their power. Living in a place like the US, where organized protests against rampant evil on the part of the nation's cardinals and bishops are so rare, I wouldn't even think of making a claim like that, but it's a lack of devotion to church teaching, not an overabundance of it, that's the problem here.
Thirdly, the children dominate far too much of the movie. This movie shouldn't be about them; particularly since Neri hardly ever worked with people under 30 in real life. One of them (the girl Ippolita) also has a questionable neckline as an adult, which, in that time period, would have gotten her mistaken for a prostitute, and, in fact, does get her mistaken for one at least once in the film, if I remember correctly.
Now for the film's strengths. Like previous movies by this director, it's a strongly-written story with a heartwarming conclusion and endearing characters. If the real Saint Philip Neri had never existed, I'd have given it an A-.
The music of the movie centers largely around the main piece; "I prefer Heaven," which, while simple, is easy to remember and catchy, and I'm been humming it off and on since I finished watching the film. Most of the other pieces of music in the film are built around the same basic tune as the main theme, which is a bold move to make, but is used to great effect. Some of the costumes were impressive, while others, in my mind, were less impressive. It's not as strong as Bakhita in that respect.
Still, I honestly found that it made more enjoyable viewing than Bakhita, for a number of reasons, really, mainly to do with the quality of the characters invented for the piece, and the hard work of the actors involved; depicting their roles so well.
However, there's one last thing that I just can't get past with this movie. It was less evident in Bakhita, and more in this production, but really, visible in both. There's an unhealthy notion in the modern world that the role of those in the church is largely to help the sick and needy with their bodily needs, and then mostly get out of the way when big wrongs need to be righted, or when anything needs to be said about morality. While Bakhita was shown caring for the sick, and rarely said a proactive word about morality, this movie goes out of its way to paint its main character as just as much of a hospice-runner as Mother Theresa, but without all those "offensive" viewpoints that condemn the popular views of the world as "evil," "reprehensible" and "sinful." I find that kind of bias on the part of a filmmaker to be the really offensive thing.
The fact that I had a good time in spite of all that is a strong testimony in favor of this film. However, whether you want to watch it or not is really up to you. There was a movie based on the life of Saint John Bosco, which did basically everything this film did, except that it was about a person who really did do some of these things, and it didn't try to paint him as weak-willed or morally-silent.
At the end of the day, I simply have to say that this is a very good movie, but not very good for Catholics. Judging it just based on the strength of its characters and story, it was excellent. Judging it on its faithfulness to the church produces a less-favorable result. Let's just hope this director can get his act together for whatever he decides to do next. I did have fun watching it, but I don't want to see any more good, decent people misrepresented or lied about. That always puts a damper on my mood.
