Ok I just finished watching it. Here is my review.
This movie was, I must say, horrible. It centers around Italian socialist revolutionaries as the main protagonists. Padre Pio is a secondary figure, more like a passive witness to the Italian peasants’ suffering and a historical-spiritual reference point. The story line of the revolutionaries is nonsensical and uninspiring. Bernie Sanders, a self-described socialist, would no doubt agree with me.
The scenes played by Shia were collectively pretty good but it also makes no sense how the life of Padre Pio is being related to the cause of the revolutionaries.
His own story in the monastery also makes little sense. The only value is in the few scenes where Padre Pio is saying Mass and Shia portrays it very devoutly. You can see it in his face and demeanor that he is playing the role in a very personal way reflecting his own conversion preparing for the film.
This movie is, I must report, sadly a failure. I like you Shia and am glad this movie brought you to the Faith but the title and subject is misleading. I think you should put this behind you and start making films from a Catholic, Christian perspective like Mel Gibson or Jim Caviezel have been doing.
You’ve already got plenty of money Shia, so that could be your new focus in your career. The real positive of this film is how it transformed you personally. That itself is the one miracle of this film!
Please, folks, do not waste money on this film. I give it one out of five stars, if that.
The Catholic nurse who prepped me for my colonoscopy yesterday told me, as I was lying on the gurney, there is a really good movie out there about Padre Pio, but in Italian with subtitles.