The Good Catholic (Paul Shoulberg, 2017) | USA

Reviewed by Gio Traina and viewed at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2017

Although being raised in a Roman-Catholic family and having a wide knowledge of the religion, I have never been a religious man myself. After hearing about a comedy about priests in an Indiana church, there was no way I was missing this and it blew my expectations away.

The Good Catholic directed by Paul Shoulberg starts with the our young protagonist Father Daniel (Zachary Spicer) in the confession booth listening to a supposedly terminally ill woman named Jane (Wrenn Schmidt). The other priests along side him are acting veterans Danny Glover and John C. McGinley. Daniel is a priest who was pressured into becoming part of the church after his father’s death. Jane starts going to the confession booth almost every night and its apparent that the two very much enjoy each other’s company. The film makes it very clear from the start that its a dramedy. Priests aren’t allowed to marry or have any type of relationship yet Jane still chases Daniel causing him to rethink his own relationship with God. The more love he gives to Jane, the farther away he gets from God. He starts losing his faith with the church and has to choose who he loves more: a beautiful, young, terminally ill woman or the almighty being he has studied and followed his entire life.

Zachary Spicer really perfected his role as quirky, sheltered Catholic which heavily reminded me of Zach Woods’ roles in Silicon Valley and The Office. McGinley shows his comedic strength at its highest as almost every time he’s on screen you want to burst out laughing and Glover seems like he was born to play a priest. My favorite element of this was how all the laughing done by the characters in the film felt very natural and seemed genuine just like the shows That 70’s Show or The Cosby Show. The director also made good use of the “shaky cam” making the viewer very immersed into the boring, always cloudy Indiana town. Overall this is a great movie that will make you laugh, teach some lessons and possibly cry.