"Hopkins is magnificent, regrettably the only thing that is"

“Inspired by true events” - four of the most dreaded words that can possibly precede any horror film.  When these two elements are combined, it’s generally a precursor to 90 minutes of scarcely believable rubbish.

Somewhat inevitably, those four words always seem to find themselves tagged on to horror films of a religious nature, specifically those involving exorcisms.

Now I’ve harked on before about how every film of this ilk suffers from the almost impossible task of living up to the legend of ‘The Exorcist’.  I don’t want to flog a dead horse, but the situation is no different for ‘The Rite’ – it was facing an uphill battle right from the moment it was conceived.

Such a burden normally confines films of this genre to crippling mediocrity; however ‘The Rite’ has two aces up its sleeve.  Firstly, it’s blessed with the legendary talents of Sir Anthony Hopkins – a caliber of actor rarely seen in such productions.  Secondly, ‘The Rite’ doesn’t stick to the ‘heroic preacher saves poor possess girl’.  Ok to the plot is only a minor deviation from the norm, but enough to differentiate ‘The Rite’ from its lackluster class mates.

Regrettably, these two elements alone are not enough to grant ‘The Rite’ salvation.  At 2 hours long it has neither the pace nor the action to engage the viewer.  Yes, there are interesting elements – I was particularly intrigued with the eagerness to remove the image of the Catholic Church as an archaic institution – but ultimately the film relies on the abilities of Hopkins far too much. 

It’s difficult to really recommend ‘The Rite’ on the basis of the above.  Yes Hopkins is magnificent, but until the last 15 minutes, the rest of the cast contribute very little, and by which time, interest has long since dwindled.  ‘The Rite’ comes close to stepping out of the shadows and into the light, but ultimately, close is not far enough.