Movie Review: “Fr. Stu”

“Father Stu” shows a very real world that is raw, rough and gritty that struggles to find a true purpose for God, except as being good for platitudes and children’s stories intersecting with a person that is always seeking to fill a place in his life left empty since childhood by the loss of a younger brother.

Through this two-hour film, we see different stages of grief, determination and backsliding coming face-to-face with God’s grace, love and mercy. The film is rather vulgar at times with language, but this sets the real and authentic background and life situation from which Father Stu Long was engaged when the Lord found him. 

As with most things in life, bad habits, or vices, take a long time to break, even when we have received the love of God, and sought to change our lives, the stain of sin remains. We see in this film a true struggle against one’s past that has been marred by tragedy and inundated with non-loving and non-supportive responses, who finds an authentic expression of God’s love and grace both prior to and following his “come to Jesus,” life altering wreck. 

The conversion seen in the movie is nothing short of Pauline, and the realness with which Father Stu engages people who are struggling is refreshing. The non-academic approach is something that many struggle to see when facing the Church in the world today. Platitudes of what we should do, in a perfect world, are replaced with real life answers for real world problems. 

Though not a typical picture of how a priest is supposed to represent himself, people are drawn to Father Stu to experience the truth behind the love, grace, compassion and mercy of God in a world that is seeking understanding. 

I caution parents and youth ministers from showing this film in a passive light, but with proper age and maturity, the message presented here is a worthy one. This movie definitely is not meant for children. This film is a new age view of a priest in a new age world trying to find God’s place in the world and in our lives.

Father Stu will be released in theaters April 12. It is produced by Columbia Pictures, Municipal Pictures and CJ Entertainment, distributed by Sony Pictures Entertainment and Motion Picture Group.

Father Grover is pastor at Saint Matthew Catholic Church in Elk City.