Jacomedi A Surprisingly Unforgettable Movie!

Aedonerre I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Clarissa Mora The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

nsbca7 The acting in this movie is not too bad, the directing is probably OK, but the whole thing comes off badly as the post production work was terrible. The movie is disjointed and the transitions between scenes is absent. Helena Bonham Carter's acting is very good in this movie. I didn't catch any mistakes on here part and seeing this movie as a good way to gauge some of her early work. Micky Rourke could have done better I think. Either they gave him bad lines (or no lines in many cases) or he just didn't pull them off well. The part where he has sex with the snow is a little bizarre, but I think his way of converting people by just looking at them or giving them a piece of rotting food is even more so. He builds a church and the movie is half way through before he even prays in it, and he is not even leading the prayer. I was under the impression the real St Francis was a little more verbal. I don't give this movie a high rating.

jnichols30 I thought Mickey Rourke did a wonderful job portraying Francesco. I did not realize the historical surrounding of what was going on in Francesoco's time. It is so important to understand the context of what makes a person into what they are. His experiences and what he witnessed in the prison and the lavish lifestyle that he and his friends were a part of and his experience in reading the "word" in his own language affected him deeply.I also want to mention the portrayal of Chiara "St. Clare". What a truly beautiful and generous person. I believe that the way the movie portrayed his journey in faith gave a lot of insight to a truly great man. It has helped me in my own faith as a Christian and as a person in general. The movie really moved me.

mm-39 I was surprised to see that Mickey Rourke did this movie. He does a lot of B movies. His performance was done very well. He can be a good actor when he applies himself. He just does not know how to pick good roles. The story was interesting. It tells the life of St. Francis of Assissi. It was very inspiritual. It is interesting to see how this sect of monks came to be. 7/10

Scoopy Imagine the casting conferences they had for this movie."OK, who will be our Saint Francis of Assisi, humble servant of god, pacifist, mystic, lover of the poor and diseased, and symbol of the harmony between man and nature""Well, JB, we need an actor who is glowing with compassion, who is self-effacing and asexual, and whose eyes reflect a constant inner peace as well as a deep spirituality""I have it. I have our man. Let me just throw this out to the crowd. Mickey Rourke"No more review needed. Mickey Rourke as St Francis of Assisi.That says it all.To the movie's credit, it was about the 1200's, not about the 1960's like Zefferelli's version, and it was a reasonable (if boring) speculation of what this great legend might really have been like as a man. With Robin Williams or Edward Norton in the role, this might be a pretty good flick.I'll tell you one thing - Rourke has several nude or shirtless scenes, and I learned that St Francis had some pretty good pecs on 'im. I guess he was probably our most buff saint.Mickey Rourke? What were they thinking? Possibly the worst casting of all time. The only contender that springs to mind is John Wayne as Genghis Kahn in "The Conqueror"You have to rent this movie just to see a couple minutes of Mick full of beatific grace. Yup, he was full of it all right.