The Oregonian
Sunday, May 15, 2005
TED MAHAR
B esides being an absorbing drama reminiscent of Costa-Gavras' classic "Z," the Showtime movie "Our Fathers" is a phenomenon in itself. The pedophile priest scandal in the American Roman Catholic Church has become so familiar -- in fact, such a cliche -- that it has become fodder for a cable docudrama.
Its director, Dan Curtis, is a veteran of television epics ("Dark Shadows," "The Winds of War," "War and Remembrance").
The national scandal, of course, is far too large to encompass in 85 minutes -- and it is hardly the sole property of the United States. "Our Fathers" is based on David France's 2004 book, "Our Fathers: The Secret Life of the Catholic Church in an Age of Scandal."
As in "Z," the true story plays out like contrived melodrama, with villains entrenched in high places and a hand-to-mouth lawyer clawing at a fortress for a morsel of justice for the victims he represents. But he happens to be in the right place at the right time for a domino to fall on another domino.
Posted by kshaw at May 15, 2005 08:29 AM