The Apostle

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The Apostle
Directed by	Robert Duvall
Produced by	Rob Carliner
Written by	Robert Duvall
Starring	Robert Duvall John Beasley Farrah Fawcett Billy Bob Thornton June Carter Cash Miranda Richardson
Music by	David Mansfield
Cinematography	Barry Markowitz
Editing by	Stephen Mack
Distributed by	New Films International
Release date(s)	September 6, 1997
Running time	134 min.
Language	English
Budget	$5,000,000 (estimated)
IMDb profile

The Apostle is an acclaimed 1997 movie, written and directed by Robert Duvall, who stars in the title role. John Beasley, Farrah Fawcett, Billy Bob Thornton, June Carter Cash, and Miranda Richardson also appear. It was filmed in and around Dallas, Texas, as well as in Louisiana.

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Sonny (Duvall) is a Texan charismatic-Pentecostal Christian minister with a wandering eye. As a result of his infidelity, his wife Jessie has begun a relationship with a youth minister named Horace. She has also conspired to use their church's bylaws to have him removed from power. At his child's Little League game, Sonny attacks Horace with a bat and puts him into a coma.

A fleeing Sonny (now calling himself "E.F." and "The Apostle") eventually ends up in Lousiana, where he convinces a retired minister named Blackwell to help him start a new church. With Sonny's energy and charisma, the church soon has a faithful flock. Sonny even converts a bigot who shows up at a church picnic intent on destruction. Eventually, though, Jessie hears his preaching on the radio and calls the state police. They show up in the middle of a sermon but allow him to finish while they wait outside. Sonny delivers an impassioned sermon before telling his flock that he has to go. He steps outside and allows the police to arrest him, then strikes up a conversation with his arrester about the kind of car the Louisiana police drive.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Making of

Duvall wrote the script in the 1980s but could not find a studio willing to film it. He eventually decided to direct and finance it himself. It was first screened at the Toronto Film Festival. Thirty minutes into the screening, studio executives began leaving the theater to wheel and deal outside; October Films gained the distribution rights that night.

For his performance, Duvall was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.