Father Stu - Movie Reviews (2024)

[A] fairly kind of bland Hollywood story.

Full Review | Jan 31, 2024

Within its conventional story (it is a classic biopic), Father Stu has several subversions to the genre that make it unique and appealing to a general audience. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Jan 10, 2024

Nonetheless, despite all the personal and familiar difficulties that the characters encounter, the film first and foremost transmits hope and true faith in God. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Sep 11, 2023

Might not be the film I loved but I did love the importance of the story & Mark Wahlberg’s performance!

Full Review | Jul 25, 2023

...a hopelessly generic and pervasively tedious drama that contains few, if any, elements designed to capture and sustain the viewer’s interest...

Full Review | Original Score: .5/4 | Dec 10, 2022

Father Stu should have been a truly inspiring tale based on an incredible true story. Instead, the end result is a generic, paint-by-numbers biopic that feels made up and that is a real sin.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 13, 2022

An adult driven story about faith, adversity, and forgiveness. Just the movie needed for these most trying times.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Oct 11, 2022

Believers might be up for this collection of boilerplate emotions, but anyone hoping for the moral complexities of, oh, I dunno, reality will find little to chew on here.

Full Review | Sep 20, 2022

... A Christian movie with a bit more heft than the schmaltzy tales routinely served up for middle America’s churchgoers.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 24, 2022

While not without its moments, it’s one really only for true Wahlberg believers.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Aug 10, 2022

A socially conservative, faith-based biographical drama, and an unconvincing, broadly played, sinner-redeemed story with shallow characterizations and the pick-up line: "I'd wait 40 years in the desert for you."

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4 | Jun 28, 2022

It's too bad that Rosalind Ross, making her feature writing and directing debuts, doesn't offer a smoother or deeper ride.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jun 26, 2022

The star’s wild-card charisma motors the story along, even if events sprawl beyond the control of first-time director Rosalind Ross when tragedy enters.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 10, 2022

he story of Father Stuart Long should inspire you to put more good into the world. Instead, this tainted version is more concerned with landing the joke.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Jun 3, 2022

Father Stu is a lot of things. Tragic, emotional, and humorous, it serves as a vehicle for two Hollywood stars with bigoted pasts to make a movie about second chances.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Jun 1, 2022

“(Wahlberg) feels out of place and, dare I say, a little bit ridiculous in the role… he gives a lot to it, but he doesn’t quite pull it off. The plot (also) feels quite heavy-handed in terms of its message."

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | May 20, 2022

Father Stu is so lifeless that saccharine would’ve been an improvement.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | May 20, 2022

File this one under “better than expected”.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | May 19, 2022

Well-intentioned but ultimately mishandled, it commits the cardinal sin of indecisiveness, middling out in a purgatory of daddy issues and Sunday service pamphlets.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | May 19, 2022

Stu's redemptive journey is messy and engaging, and it has a lot to say about the need for forgiveness at various levels of society.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | May 18, 2022