‘Father Joe’: First Look Clip Of Kiefer Sutherland As A Priest Who Clashes With The Mob In Action-Crime Pic — Venice

Luc Besson's directorial debut, "Father Joe," is a misguided mixture of mafia films and religious hitmen that carries a few redeeming qualities. The story unfolds in New York City during the confusing "nineties" period, following a zealous priest (portrayed by Kiefer Sutherland) intent on eliminating the mob, led by the sluggish Gio Falcone, played by Al Pacino, who seems to have given a lackluster performance. The film is coherent enough to entertain, but it lacks dramatic depth and visual flair.

Sutherland's character, known only as "Father Joe," is a contradictory figure, which adds intrigue but the movie barely delves into this complexity. The film starts with a typical mafia gathering at a concealed drug lab where innocents are eliminated efficiently, off-screen. Joe, dressed in a priest's attire, hat, and a leather vest, efficiently climbs the ladder of the criminal underworld and confronts a middle-ranking mobster (Michael Rispoli), who is surprisingly spared.

The rationale behind sparing him is a mixture of genre demands and the movie's attempt to rationalize his actions by having Joe want to include rich men in his congregation to keep an eye on them and extract donations. Joe also injects his targets with a mysterious poison, offering a weekly antidote during Sunday mass, a concept that is both humorous and absurd.

Despite Joe's meticulousness, his methods are steeped in lunacy. His mission to clear the mafia of drugs and underage sales is strange, as he only demands that they stop selling drugs to anyone under 21. This demand is as perplexing as it is strange, but it comes with an explanation rooted in Joe's backstory and his unique worldview.

Joe isn't alone in this endeavor; his church serves as a sanctuary for Vietnamese orphans and a heavily armed fortress. His relationships with local Muslim and Jewish leaders are based more on faith than weapons and safe houses, creating a fusion of "John Wick" and a saccharine religious pluralism reminiscent of a '70s Bollywood melodrama.

The juxtaposition of Old Testament wrath and New Testament benevolence is striking, but not subversive or exploitative enough to be truly volatile.

While Father Joe can be compared to the Catholic Batman, with its emphasis on the extreme measures taken by religious figures, the film's portrayal of these characters tends to be more silly and broad, with some orientalism thrown in for good measure. Despite Sutherland's committed performance, the characters remain emotionally stagnant, which diminishes the impact of the story's potential themes of redemptive violence.

The film's tone shifts abruptly when it introduces a child trafficking subplot, which the movie struggles to balance with its humorous elements. The visual style is stagnant, with flat spaces and dull tableaus exacerbated by the frequent use of vibrant stock footage from the era as establishing shots. While this decision adds a touch of authenticity, it makes the film's visuals look worse in comparison.

Overall, "Father Joe" tries to be more than it is, wallowing in its own absurdity and failing to deliver the emotional depth that its premise promises.