This Mexican film is widely known for its outright blatant criticism of the Catholic Church In its defense, the movie isn’t the case of Catholic bashing that is often thought to be. In fact, this rather unfocused, all-over-the-map movie would be a lot better if it pared down its plots and characters to a few rather than dozens or if it were subtler or if it had a sense of humor. The title character is a headstrong, 24-year-old priest who’s been sent to Los Reyes, where he’s supposed to aid aging parish priest Father Benito.
At first, Father Benito is happy to guide and train the younger priest. But he’s horrified to witness a mutual attraction between Father Amaro and Amelia, a devoted teenage parishioner. Not that Father Benito should be worried. Not only does he have close ties to a local drug lord, but he’s also been carrying on for years with Amelia’s mother. That’s probably enough material for any movie, but the screenwriter decided to also throw in subplots about a religious fanatic, the town’s overly ambitious mayor, Amelia’s jealous ex-boyfriend and others. All of which waters down the main message. Director Carlos Carrera seems to have a problem keeping the story focused, but the cast does turn in some fine performances. Overall, the main message in the movie in grasped by the viewer however the randomness of the movie with all of its loosely focused scenes water down the theme. If the movie however removed some silly scenes which lack focus at directed more attention towards the main theme I believe this film would be extremely better.
Geoffery StJulien 