THE APOSTLE is Duvall. He not only plays the title role, he plays it so well he has earned an academy award nomination for best actor. Duvall also wrote and directed the film. So my warning bells were clanging furiously as I meandered into to see the film. But THE APOSTLE is different. Maybe this film is the exception which proves my rule, but more likely, this film is a wonderful manifestation of the contradictions of humanity.

Not only is the film itself a contradiction to the cinematic norm, but many individual aspects of the film are also paradoxical. At times THE APOSTLE is more like a documentary than a movie, and since such a lot of screen time is dedicated to church services, I occasionally wondered if the goal here is to entertain or proselytize.

The narrative unfolds like a road movie. When the film opens, we meet Duvall as a preacher named Sonny, driving his mother across town. Sonny and his wife, Jessie, have built an impressive church in Texas. There's one problem, though: when Sonny is away at revivals, Jessie decides to play--with the youth minister. And even though Sonny tells us he has often strayed from the marriage covenant, he is less than impressed by his wife's infidelity, and employs a baseball bat to articulate his point on the youth minister's head.

Back to the road, then, as Sonny drives off, uncertain where to go and what to do. Finally he ditches his car and his identity, to reinvent himself in Louisiana as the Apostle EF. Two sides of Sonny immediately spring to life: he begins working to revive a dying church, and flirts with the possibility of a beginning a new life for himself.

Duvall is wonderful as the earthly man of God. The central issue of the film is concerned with the complexity of Sonny's dual nature, and Duvall brings life to both personas. Most of the film is devoted to Duvall, since he is the character we are desperate to understand, but he is supported by a great collection of actors. A worn looking Farrah Fawcett plays his wife--boy has she ditched her angel persona of the 70s!, while British actress Miranda Richardson brings incredible dignity and poise to the role of Sonny's love interest in Louisiana. Then there's June Carter Cash is Sonny's mother, Billy Bob Thornton as a redneck in need, and a swag of real preachers and congregations play themselves in the church scenes.

The Apostle is an original and unusual film. Thoughtful and ponderous, Duvall's masterpiece is filled with many complexities that tease out the bizarre nature of humankind. It's difficult not to sing along with the music just as it's difficult not to reflect on this film long after you've left the theatre.