Last Rites (1988)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

Donald P. Bellisario

Writer (WGA):

Donald P. Bellisario (written by)

Release Date:

18 November 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Romance | Thriller

Plot:

A New York priest with blood ties to the Mafia uses the auspices of the Church to protect the mistress...

Plot Keywords:

Mafia | Male Frontal Nudity | Catholic Church | Priest In Love

Cast

Tom Berenger	...	Michael
Daphne Zuniga	...	Angela
Chick Vennera	...	Nuzo
Anne Twomey	...	Zena
Dane Clark	...	Don Carlo
Paul Dooley	...	Father Freddie
Vassili Lambrinos	...	Tío
Adrian Paul	...	Tony
Deborah Pratt	...	Robin Dwyer
Tony DiBenedetto	...	Lt. Jericho (as Tony Di Benedetto)
Christine Poor	...	Teri
Al Rodriguez	...	Luis De Vega
Jack Hallett	...	Officer Reardon
Father Louis Gigante	...	Bishop Frascati
Ibi Kaufman	...	Theresa

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:M | West Germany:16 (video) | Finland:K-16 | UK:18 | USA:R

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Director Cameo: [Donald P. Bellisario]Man getting out of the taxi cab that Angela and Father Freddie take, about 63 minutes into the movie.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: Gun used at the beginning by Zena ('Anne Twomey') to gun down her husband Geno (Roberto Corbo) has a silencer on it, but the gunshots are not silenced - in fact they are loud like normal gunshots.

Soundtrack:

ALL OF MY LIFE

Very ordinary but not without merit

Priest Father Michael (Tom Berenger) has a father who's the head of one of the families in the Mafia. Michael protects Angela (Daphne Zuniga) who his father wants dead...and starts to fall in love with her despite being a priest. Now he's torn between love for his family, love for Angela or love for the church.

The story has been done before and there's plenty wrong with it. For starters Berenger is totally miscast as the priest. In the right roles Berenger can be good--but not here. He's also far too muscular for any priest I've ever seen. Zuniga (with an atrocious faked accent) is no more than OK. The story also has more plot holes than I cared to count. Still it does (somewhat) work.

Within the first 5 minutes you have female nudity AND full frontal male nudity (unusual in any Hollywood movie). Zuniga has about two nude scenes and Berenger shows off his muscular chest. It is well directed and has a nice music score. There's also a wonderful supporting performance by Anne Twomey as Michael's sister Zena. Also there's a GREAT ending. These do make the movie worth sitting through. Also this DID play in theatres despite what Leonard Maltin says in his video guide. I saw it in a tiny little theatre back in 1988 (it played a week and that was it). I distinctly remember the quiet audience actually laughing and applauded when the main villain got what was coming to them. This is no classic--heck it's not even a good movie--but it's not an utter disaster either. An OK time waster.