Exorcism, Ham on the Side
"The Rite" had a terrific coming-attraction playing on TV the week before the movie's theatrical release.  Anthony Hopkins was prominently featured with an assortment of creepy expressions, and quick cuts showed a woman contorting her body, the horrified reaction of a young priest, and some shots of Rome.  With Hopkins' star power and a dramatic plot involving humans possessed by the devil, this looked like, finally, a good, old-fashioned horror film geared to scare the wits out of an audience.<br /><br /> Michael Kovak (Colin O'Donoghue) has just finished four years of seminary school and is on the verge of taking his final vows, but has issues with his own faith.  When the Pope sends down an edict requiring every diocese to have a resident exorcist, Michael's superiors see this as an opportunity to show him the power of faith.  They send him to Rome for a two-month intensive course to prepare him for the role.<br /><br /> In Rome, he is introduced to Father Lucas, an elderly priest currently attempting to exorcise evil from a 16-year-old girl who was impregnated by her father.  When Michael witnesses one session, with the girl flailing, twisting her body, and speaking English (a language she doesn't know), he is convinced mental illness is at the root of the girl's behavior.<br /><br /> The rest of the movie is a philosophical dialogue on the presence of the devil in the modern world and how the devil is empowered by people's disbelief in him.  Hopkins is given plenty of opportunity to ham it up, channeling his Hannibal Lecter character and turning Father Lucas into the antithesis of what we believe an exorcist should be.  He's glib, tosses out one-liners, takes cell phone calls in the midst of an exorcism, makes joking references to scenes in a famous horror film, and treats his job with a laid back manner, with occasional outbursts, in the never ending battle of Good and Evil.<br /><br /> The audience approaches a movie about possession with certain expectations.  We've seen a myriad of possession films, from "Child's Play," in which a doll absorbs the personality and modus operandi of a murderer, to "The Omen," in which the cherub-faced spawn of the devil goes on a killing spree to insinuate himself into a position of power.  What these films have in common is action, and plenty of it -- a feature blatantly absent in "The Rite," which is far too tame.  The primary problem is the film's fence-balancing PG-13 rating, which doesn't allow for intense content, graphic visuals, or strong language.  In other words, this is a possession film for those who think they're too scary.<br /><br /> Director Mikael Hafstrom is not great with pacing.  At 114 minutes, the movie drags considerably and never has a payoff worth waiting for.  It's sort of like having field seats to the seventh game of the World Series and having the umpires call the game a tie.  Totally unacceptable.<br /><br /> We already know that Hopkins, given solid material, can be wonderful, but with mediocre stuff like "The Rite," he compensates for drama on the page with histrionics, nervous tics, and ominous stares.  Scares are the easy kind -- an unseen cat suddenly jumping into frame and meowing, loud musical chords that attempt to amp up the tepid "shock" moments, and a camera that dances all over the place, trying to pick out an angle that will make the viewer shudder.<br /><br /> Colin O'Donoghue, who makes his screen debut in "The Rite," is adequate and manages to make his Michael Kovak sympathetic, but he becomes practically invisible as Hopkins upstages their every scene together.<br /><br /> If you're in the mood for a superior film about possession, rent "The Exorcist" and see it done right.  Made 38 years ago, it is not only the best film about demonic possession, but arguably the best horror movie of all time.
The movie title "The Rite [Blu-ray]," available on Movies & TV, has received an average rating of 4.6 from 5130 reviewers. 
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The additional details include the following in key-value format :
 {"Genre": "Mystery & Suspense/Thrillers, Mystery & Suspense", "Format": "Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, AC-3, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen", "Contributor": "Colin O'Donoghue, Mikael H\u00e5fstr\u00f6m, Anthony Hopkins", "Language": "English", "Is Discontinued By Manufacturer": "No", "MPAA rating": "PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned)", "Product Dimensions": "0.6 x 5.4 x 6.7 inches; 0.71 Ounces", "Director": "Mikael H\u00e5fstr\u00f6m", "Media Format": "Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, AC-3, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen", "Release date": "May 17, 2011", "Actors": "Anthony Hopkins, Colin O'Donoghue", "Dubbed": "French, Spanish", "Subtitles": "English, French, Spanish", "Studio": "Warner Bros. Pictures", "Number of discs": "1"}

Here is a brief synopsis of the title : Inspired by true events, this supernatural thriller follows a seminary student (Colin O’Donoghue) sent to study exorcism at the Vatican in spite of his own doubts about the controversial practice and even his own faith. Only when sent to apprentice with legendary Father Lucas (Anthony Hopkins), who has performed thousand of exorcisms, does his armor of skepticism begin to fall. Drawn into a troubling case that seems to transcend even Father Lucas’s skill, the young seminarian glimpses a phenomenon science can’t explain or control – and an evil so violent and terrifying that it forces him to question everything he believes..