Drama

Father Stu

- God wanted a fighter… and He found one.

The true-life story of boxer-turned-priest. When an injury ends his amateur boxing career, Stuart Long moves to Los Angeles to find money and fame. While scraping by as a supermarket clerk, he meets Carmen, a Sunday school teacher who seems immune to his bad-boy charm. Determined to win her over, the longtime agnostic starts going to church to impress her. However, a motorcycle accident leaves him wondering if he can use his second chance to help others, leading to the surprising realization that he's meant to be a Catholic priest.

Release Date : 2022-04-13

Language :EnglishPortuguese

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Municipal PicturesPalm Drive Productions

Production Country : United States of America

Alternative Titles : Father Stu: Reborn

Cast

Character Name : Father Stuart 'Stu' Long

Original Name : Mark Wahlberg

Gender : Male

Character Name : Bill Long

Original Name : Mel Gibson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Kathleen Long

Original Name : Jacki Weaver

Gender : Female

Character Name : Carmen

Original Name : Teresa Ruiz

Gender : Female

Character Name : Monsignor Kelly

Original Name : Malcolm McDowell

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mary

Original Name : Annet Mahendru

Gender : Female

Character Name : Priest

Original Name : Cody Fern

Gender : Male

Character Name : Allison

Original Name : Winter Ave Zoli

Gender : Female

Character Name : Time Keeper

Original Name : Faith Jefferies

Gender : Male

Character Name : Bartender

Original Name : Ronnie Gene Blevins

Gender : Male

Character Name : Dr. Novack

Original Name : Ned Bellamy

Gender : Male

Character Name : Randall

Original Name : Michael Fairman

Gender : Male

Character Name : Barfly

Original Name : Niko Nicotera

Gender : Male

Character Name : Tim

Original Name : Alain Uy

Gender : Male

Character Name : Father Garcia

Original Name : Carlos Leal

Gender : Male

Character Name : Dr. Wan

Original Name : Annie Lee

Gender : Female

Character Name : Ham

Original Name : Aaron Moten

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mrs. Ferris

Original Name : Molly Baker

Gender : Female

Character Name : Waitress

Original Name : Chiquita Fuller

Gender : Female

Character Name : Montana Sheriff

Original Name : Betsy Moore

Gender : Female

Character Name : Young Stu

Original Name : Tenz McCall

Gender : Male

Character Name : Jenny

Original Name : Penny L. Moore

Gender : Female

Character Name : Bouncer

Original Name : Tim Sitarz

Gender : Male

Character Name : Market Customer

Original Name : Rudy Moreno

Gender : Male

Character Name : Los Angeles Police Officer

Original Name : Nicholas A. Goldreich

Gender : Male

Character Name : Sunday School Boy

Original Name : Indie DesRoches

Gender : Male

Character Name : Sunday School Girl

Original Name : Lily Villegas

Gender : Male

Character Name : Carmen's Dad

Original Name : Roberto Montesinos

Gender : Male

Character Name : EMT

Original Name : Danielle Golden

Gender : Male

Character Name : Los Angeles Nurse

Original Name : Sharmila Devar

Gender : Female

Character Name : Father Kelly's Secretary

Original Name : Sean O'Reilly

Gender : Male

Character Name : Bishop

Original Name : James Flavin

Gender : Male

Character Name : Gael

Original Name : Jorge-Luis Pallo

Gender : Male

Character Name : AA Chairperson

Original Name : Clay Wilcox

Gender : Male

Character Name : Medieval Background Girl

Original Name : Lila Karp-Ziring

Gender : Male

Character Name : Medieval Set Assistant Director

Original Name : Steve Olson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Medieval Bad Guy

Original Name : Dennis Keiffer

Gender : Male

Character Name : Medieval Knight

Original Name : Travis Wong

Gender : Male

Character Name : Bar Patron

Original Name : Bryan Kreutz

Gender : Male

Character Name : Bartender

Original Name : Larry Bagby

Gender : Male

Character Name : Bar Patron

Original Name : Mathew Trent Hunnicutt

Gender : Male

Character Name : Cute Big Sky Nurse

Original Name : Mariah Maison

Gender : Female

Character Name : 21 year old Kid

Original Name : Tyler Burke

Gender : Male

Character Name : Boxing Judge

Original Name : Skip Howland

Gender : Male

Character Name : Church Parishioner

Original Name : Pablo Ramos

Gender : Male

Character Name : Boxer #2

Original Name : Brian Ortega

Gender : Male

Character Name : Maude

Original Name : Patricia Belcher

Gender : Female

Character Name : Motel Receptionist

Original Name : Colleen Camp

Gender : Female

Reviews

Spencer

@SpencerStaggs

2022-06-15

Let me start off by saying that I completely understand all of the hate this film is getting, and that's because for the first half of the film I hated it too. For too much of this film, a lot of the characters are just unlikable slobs . . . especially Mel Gibson's character of Bill Long. Also, the story plays out . . . well, it plays out terribly for the first half of the film. It wasn't until later in the film when Stuart Long decides to become a preacher that I was actually invested, and why's that? That's because Long was an absolute piece of trash that I didn't want to watch for the first half of the film. This does not go without saying that by the end I liked Stuart Long's character in the film, but I couldn't like him for the first half. The film isn't precisely terrible, but it isn't good. The third act is solid, but everything in the first act is bad, and the second where Stu is transitioning is mediocre. This does not make for a good film. When the film is simply bad for the first two acts, it can't just make up for it with a good third act, which sucks because the third act was actually not too bad. The entire path of redemption message is interesting, but we've seen it done before, and with much better characters to say the least, but of course, this isn't saying that the path to redemption is bad to watch, but it is still bland and has been done multiple times before. It was nice to see Bill Long become a semi-decent human being at the end of the film, because he realizes he has to now actually care for his son, Stu, but it doesn't really redeem him as a character within the film's boundaries. Also, Bill's character is an absolute D-bag throughout most of the film, so it makes it extremely hard to like him as a character by the end of the film . . . but, boy, if seeing that final dance with his wife wasn't something. . . . Forgiveness is really what's at the core of "Father Stu", but I've already covered that previously. What I'm trying to talk about here is how almost all the characters have something they want to be forgiven for. Bill & Kathleen Long do seem to regret their choices that brought them to this point in their lives, and it's clear that they regret whatever tore them apart. As for Stu, he wants to be forgiven for everything. He regrets just about everything he's done in his life up to this point. The sad part about it is: There's just too much that Stu's done for the audience to really forgive him completely, although it is terrible what happened to him. In my eyes, "Father Stu" isn't absolutely terrible, and I do think that it's mediocre at best by the end of the day. The third act is very well done, but because of all the other stuff beforehand it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I think people should check this one out if they're interested, but other than that, just leave it be. Ultimately, "Father Stu" is a hard thumbs down for me.

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2022-05-29

Mark Wahlberg is competent here as the eponymous boxer who takes a shine to the young church-going Carmen (Teresa Ruiz). He can't get near her, so he somewhat opportunistically decides to join her church and see if that helps. Thing is, pretty quickly he discovers that there is something to this "God" thing, and decides to try and get himself ordained for the priesthood - leaving all thoughts of the girl behind. Meantime, he discovers that he is suffering from a degenerative disease that will prove debilitating as he ages. It's one of those inspirational stories this, but I just didn't particularly like or empathise with "Stu". I found his profound and fairly sudden Damascine conversion hardly explained in the context of the film and except for a few decent contributions from the always reliable Jacki Weaver (his mother) the rest of this was all a bit lacking in substance. I never felt like I knew what made this man tick! It is nice to see Malcom McDowell back on the screen, and Mel Gibson is perfectly adequate as his rather indifferent father - but sadly, this whole film is a just another, sometimes touching, biopic of one man of many who live to inspire through their church (or not) whilst facing adversities and trials that trouble many people. It is watchable, but I'm afraid equally forgettable.