The church and homosexuality are two topics about as cozy together as oil and water. Discussions on the combination of the two have made for exhaustive letters to the editor in our sad, little New Brunswick newspaper for years now. A hick in a rural community will quote passages of scripture, and a Club Montreal owner will respond. Then Bishop Faber will write a lengthy "letter of the day", and incite more replies from those on the opposite side of the fence. What can you say -- it's what seems to be on the minds of New Brunswickers.
Perhaps they should all view the unheralded piece Mass Appeal before taking aim. It carefully balances the line between reverence and irreverence, all the while brushing on the tricky tightrope of priests and their own sins. Most importantly though, it does so with humanity, compassion and wit, not with righteous rigidity. The focus is on the people who practice the faith, not the faith's blueprint effect on the people.
It stars Jack Lemmon in a dedicated performance as Father Farley, a Catholic priest who exercises leadership over his parishoners by being well-liked. Rather than shepherding his flock, Farley has turned to booze and little, white lies to maintain his position. A new deacon by the name of Mark Dolson (Zeljko Ivanek) has stopped by one of Farley's masses and questions his scruples right from the start. Dolson loves God, but has little admiration for some of the staples of the Church which he hopes to serve. In his past, he has had both homosexual and heterosexual encounters, and is now a staunch supporter of women entering the priesthood. Monsignor Burke (Charles Durning) assigns the two to work together as teacher and mentor, with predictably volatile results, particularly in Dolson's nerve-wracking homilies. How far will each priest go to do what they feel is right?
I helped produce a stage version of Mass Appeal six years ago, so the screenplay was familar to me, although some liberties have been taken to account for the secondary characters that aren't depicted in the play. Lemmon and Ivanek are equally matched here, although I was surprised to find that I was not as involved with their situation as I was when I watched the performances of our two Hampton actors six years ago. Regardless, the film assuredly works as a conduit for dialogue and discussion regarding several controversial issues. With lots of zingy one-liners, insightful character development, and a challenging conclusion, it is a special little charmer that, provided you have a counterpart for debate after having viewed it, makes for a better alternative than trying to win an argument via a local newspaper forum.
