It seems like scaring you is a big business nowadays with all the horror movies out there. And by looking at the comercials and trailers for Stigmata, you would figure it was just another horror movie trying to cash in. Well you (and I) were dead wrong. Stigmata is actually a religious movie (sort of)which shows you the darker side of the Vatican (like you really needed to be shown that). It has it's sort of scary, possesion filled moments, but it is definitely not a horror movie. Don't we feel foolish for labeling.
Patricia Arquette as the possessed Frankie Page
The Vatican coducts investigations of "miracles" around the world. Usually they find them to be frauds, but other times they just can't explain them. That is the case when Father Andrew Kiernan (Gabriel Byrne, The Man in the Iron Mask, Enemy of the State) investigates a statue of the Virgin Mary that is crying blood in South America. This particular statue has been "crying" since the local priest died. We then see this priests rosary stolen by a young boy who then sells it to an American tourist. We then flash to America (Pittsburgh, I think) and a 23 year old hairdresser named Frankie Page (Patricia Arquette, Lost Highway). We learn that the American tourist is Frankie's mother who sends the rosary to Frankie as a souvenier of her travels. Frankie then begins to have unexplainable wounds start inflicting her. First in her wrists, then on her back, then on her forehead, then her feet. The Vatican is again called to investigate this new instance of the Stigmata, or people spontaneously inflicted with the wounds Christ experienced during crucifixion, so they send Andrew. They think they are sending him on a wild goose chase and getting him out of the way of the secret he was onto with the South American priest (which I will not tell you about, because it is the big secret of the movie), but they are actually sending him to an important part of the trail. It turns out that the priest is "posessing" Frankie's body so he can deliver the message that the Vatican is willing to kill to keep a secret.
Gabriel Byrne as the investigating Father Andrew Kiernan
Like I said before, I thought this was another stupid horror movie when I saw the commercials (especially with the tagline "It will scare the Hell into you") so I didn't bother to see it until it was in the dollar theater. It was too bad for me, because Stigmata is a pretty cool movie. The story is pretty cool (although the ending is anticlimatic) while it shows the real motivations of humans... even the pious Catholic Church. The acting isn't stellar, but it is competent. Patricia Arquette does OK, especially when she is acting possesed, but it appears she was hired as eye candy. Gabriel Byrne does a good job as a priest, although he doesn't exactly strictly adhere to his vows. The only actor that I really liked in this movie was Jonathan Pryce (Ronin, Evita) who played the Cardinal trying to stop Frankie's message from getting out. He did a great job of being on evil priest who is just trying to keep his power. But Pryce's evil character and the plot are enough to carry any lapse in acting by everyone else, making Stigmata a pretty cool movie.
