The Apostle#Soundtrack

Euliss F. "Sonny" Dewey is a charismatic Pentecostal preacher. His wife Jessie has begun an adulterous relationship with a youth minister named Horace. She refuses Sonny's desire to reconcile, although she assures him that she will not interfere with his right to see his children. She has also conspired to use their church's bylaws to have him removed from power. Sonny asks God what to do but receives no answer. Much of the congregation sides with Jessie in this dispute. Sonny, however, refuses to start a new church, insisting that the one which forced him out was "his" church. At his children's Bible-camp softball game, Sonny, in an emotional and drunken fit, attacks Horace with a bat and puts him into a coma; Horace later dies.

A fleeing Sonny ditches his car in a river and gets rid of all identifying information. After destroying all evidence of his past, Sonny rebaptizes himself and anoints himself as "The Apostle E. F." He leaves Texas and ends up in the bayous of Louisiana, where he persuades a retired minister named Blackwell to help him start a new church. He works various odd jobs and uses the money to build the church, and to buy time to preach on a local radio station. Sonny also begins dating the station's receptionist.

With Sonny's energy and charisma, the church soon has a faithful and racially integrated flock. Sonny even succeeds in converting a racist construction worker who shows up at a church picnic intent on destruction. While at work in a local diner, Sonny sees his new girlfriend out in public with her husband and children, apparently reconciled. Sonny walks out, vowing never to return there.

Jessie hears a radio broadcast of the Apostle E. F. and calls the police on Sonny. The police show up in the middle of an evening service but allow Sonny to finish it while they wait outside. In the poignant finale, Sonny delivers an impassioned sermon before telling his flock that he has to go. In the final scene, Sonny, now part of a chain gang, preaches to the inmates as they work along the side of a highway.

{{Cast listing|

• Robert Duvall as Euliss F. "Sonny" Dewey
• Farrah Fawcett as Jessie Dewey
• John Beasley as Brother C. Charles Blackwell
• Miranda Richardson as Toosie
• June Carter Cash as Momma Dewey
• Walton Goggins as Sam
• Billy Bob Thornton as Troublemaker
• Billy Joe Shaver as Joe
• Rick Dial as Elmo
• Todd Allen as Horace

}}

Making The Apostle had been a longtime passion project for Duvall, who first wrote the script in 1984, but could not find a studio willing to produce it.{{cite news |last1=Goldstein |first1=Patrick |author-link=Patrick Goldstein |title=Gospel Truth |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-mar-18-ca-29945-story.html |access-date=29 November 2022 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=March 18, 1998 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120222734/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-mar-18-ca-29945-story.html |archive-date=2022-11-20}} Duvall's interest in playing a preacher stemmed from an experience he had in the 1960s visiting a small Pentecostal chapel in Arkansas while doing research for an off-Broadway play. Said Duvall, "There was a certain simplicity and understanding. And also the feeling of the folklore. Preaching is one of the great American art forms. The rhythm, the cadence. And nobody knows about it except the preachers themselves."{{cite news |last1=Freedman |first1=Samuel G. |title=Duvall's Battle to Confound a Religious Stereotype |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/22/movies/duvall-s-battle-to-confound-a-religious-stereotype.html |access-date=29 November 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=1997-10-22}} After finding no interest from studios, he eventually decided to direct and finance the film himself.

The film was primarily shot in western Louisiana over a period of seven weeks in the fall of 1996. The fictional town of Bayou Boutte is actually a small town in Louisiana called Sunset. Some members of the supporting cast were actual churchgoers from the area.

The film was first screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, 1997. In the middle of the screening, studio executives began leaving the theater to bid for distribution rights.{{Cite book |last=Thompson |first=Kristin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0mqwcvOE-7UC&pg=PA343 |title=Storytelling in the New Hollywood: Understanding Classical Narrative Technique |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-67-483975-5 |edition=1st |pages=343}} October Films won the bidding war and gained the distribution rights that night.{{Cite news |last=Schneider |first=Howard |date=1997-09-10 |title=Toronto's Film Fest Drives 'Em Wild |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1997/09/10/torontos-film-fest-drives-em-mild/b4a8c1aa-07fc-4f06-809a-7a29a89f2949/ |access-date=2022-11-29}}{{Cite news |last=Johnson |first=Brian D. |date=2012-01-23 |title=Sundance mourns indie film champ Bingham Ray |work=Maclean's |url=https://www.macleans.ca/culture/movies/sundance-mourns-indie-film-champ-bingham-ray/ |access-date=2022-11-29}}

The Apostle opened in limited release in North American theaters on December 19, 1997, eventually expanding nationwide through February and March 1998. It went on to gross $21.3 million worldwide, against a production budget of $5 million.

{{Infobox album

| name = The Apostle: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture

| type = soundtrack

| artist = various

| cover =

| alt =

| released = February 10, 1998

| recorded =

| venue =

| studio =

| genre = Country
Contemporary Christian
Southern Gospel

| length = 50:30

| label = Rising Tide

| producer = Robert Duvall
Scott Greenstein

}}

{{Album ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r333977|first=Thom|last=Owens}}

| rev2 =

| rev2Score =

}}

The score for The Apostle was scored by David Mansfield. Three songs, by country music artists Lyle Lovett, Patty Loveless, and contemporary Christian artist Steven Curtis Chapman, were recorded especially for the film. The song "There Ain't No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down" was composed by Brother Claude Ely.{{cite web|url=http://claudeely.net/photos.html |title=Brother Claude Ely - Photos & Music |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071119025640/http://claudeely.net/photos.html |access-date=November 29, 2022 |archive-date=November 19, 2007}}The Apostle soundtrack. Executive producers Robert Duvall and Scott Greenstein. Rising Tide. 1998.

The soundtrack won the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album.{{Cite web |title=41st Annual GRAMMY Awards {{!}} 1998 |url=https://www.grammy.com/awards/41st-annual-grammy-awards |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=grammy.com}}

The songs, "I Will Not Go Quietly" by Chapman, "Two Coats" by Loveless and "I'm a Soldier in the Army of the Lord" by Lovett were released on a soundtrack album that was supplemented with more exclusive songs "inspired by" (but not included in) the film.

{{Track listing

| headline =

| extra_column =

| all_writing =

| all_lyrics =

| all_music =

| title_width =

| extra_width =

| title1 = I Will Not Go Quietly

| note1 = Steven Curtis Chapman

| length1 = 3:46

| title2 = Two Coats

| note2 = Patty Loveless

| length2 = 3:21

| title3 = I'm a Soldier in the Army of the Lord

| note3 = Lyle Lovett

| length3 = 3:29

| title4 = Softly and Tenderly

| note4 = Rebecca Lynn Howard

| length4 = 3:05

| title5 = There Is a River

| note5 = Gaither Vocal Band

| length5 = 4:24

| title6 = In the Garden

| note6 = Johnny Cash

| length6 = 3:16

| title7 = I Love to Tell the Story

| note7 = Emmylou Harris and Robert Duvall

| length7 = 3:45

| title8 = Waitin' on the Far Side Banks of Jordan

| note8 = Carter Family

| length8 = 3:15

| title9 = Victory Is Mine

| note9 = Sounds of Blackness

| length9 = 3:32

| title10 = There is Power in the Blood

| note10 = Lari White

| length10 = 5:19

| title11 = There Ain't No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down

| note11 = Russ Taff

| length11 = 4:54

| title12 = I'll Fly Away

| note12 = Gary Chapman and Wynonna Judd

| length12 = 3:47

| title13 = Soft and Tenderly (Reprise)

| note13 = Dino Kartsonakis

| length13 = 4:37

| total_length = 50:30

}}

The film has an 88% approval rating on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 51 reviews, with an average score of 8/10. The consensus summarizes: "A nuanced sermon on the contradictions of faith as well as a blistering showcase for its director and star, The Apostle will leave audiences evangelizing the immensity of Robert Duvall's talent."{{cite web|title=The Apostle|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/apostle/?search=the%20apost |publisher= Flixster |website= Rotten Tomatoes |access-date= September 20, 2023}}

Critic Roger Ebert gave it four out of four stars and called the film "a lesson in how movies can escape from convention and penetrate the hearts of rare characters."{{cite web |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |title=The Apostle Movie Review and Film Summary (1998) |date=January 30, 1998 |url=http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-apostle-1998 |work=rogerebert.com |publisher=Ebert Digital LLC|access-date=2 June 2013}} Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly gave the film an A− grade and described it as "a seamless match of strong artistic vision and physical performance", with "the Oscar-winning star of Tender Mercies [drawing] on more than three decades of experience personifying the hard contours and bruised souls of American men to create a fearless and fascinating piece of work."{{cite magazine|last=Schwarzbaum |first=Lisa |author-link=Lisa Schwarzbaum |date=1997-12-19 |title=The Apostle |url=https://ew.com/article/1997/12/19/apostle-2/ |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |access-date=2022-11-22}}

American theologian Harvey Cox said, "It's the most explicit treatment of evangelical religious sensibility I've seen. One is stunned by Duvall's performance. But beyond that, it is a film about sin and redemption, something Dostoevskian, deeply theological, not churchy. It's in-your-face theology."{{Cite news |last=Marquand |first=Robert |date=1998-02-05 |title='The Apostle' Rewrites How Religion Is Depicted on Big Screen |work=Christian Science Monitor |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1998/0205/020598.us.us.1.html |access-date=2022-11-29 |issn=0882-7729}} The Christian Science Monitor noted how the film dealt with the subject of race as it "presents the Christian message as universal, extending to all races and classes."

The Apostle garnered numerous awards and nominations from major awards organizations. At the 70th Academy Awards, Duvall was nominated for Best Actor.{{cite web |title=The 70th Academy Awards |url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998 |access-date=29 November 2022 |website=oscars.org}} The film won the awards for Best Film, Best Male Lead, and Best Director at the 13th Independent Spirit Awards.{{cite news |last1=Welkos |first1=Robert W. |title='Apostle' Takes Top Honors at Independent Spirit Awards |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-mar-22-me-31611-story.html |access-date=29 November 2022 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=March 22, 1998}} Miranda Richardson and Farrah Fawcett were also both nominated for Best Supporting Female at the Independent Spirit Awards.{{Cite web |title=1998 Nominees |url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/SA_SubForm_etc/2021_SA_ALLNomineesWinners_063021.pdf |access-date=2022-11-29 |website=Film Independent |page=42}}

In addition, Duvall won the awards for Best Actor from the Chicago Film Critics Association,{{Cite web |title=1988-2013 Award Winner Archives |url=https://chicagofilmcritics.org/awards-blog/archives |access-date=2022-11-29 |website=Chicago Film Critics Association |date=January 2013 |language=en-US}} Florida Film Critics,{{Cite web |last=Persall |first=Steve |date=January 6, 1998 |title='Titanic' tops with Florida critics |url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1998/01/06/titanic-tops-with-florida-critics/ |access-date=2022-11-29 |website=Tampa Bay Times |language=en}} Las Vegas Film Critics Society,{{Cite web |title=Las Vegas Film Critics Society Sierra Award Winners |url=http://www.lvfcs.org/sierra-award-winners.html |access-date=2022-11-29 |website=www.lvfcs.org}} Los Angeles Film Critics Association,{{Cite news |last=Kronke |first=David |date=1997-12-14 |title='L.A. Confidential' Gets L.A. Top Critics' Award |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-dec-14-me-64021-story.html |access-date=2022-11-29}} New York Film Critics Circle,{{Cite news |last=Maslin |first=Janet |date=1997-12-12 |title='L.A. Confidential' Wins Critics Circle Award |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/12/movies/la-confidential-wins-critics-circle-award.html |access-date=2022-11-29 |issn=0362-4331}} the National Society of Film Critics,{{Cite web |date=2009-12-19 |title=Past Awards |url=https://nationalsocietyoffilmcritics.com/about-2/ |access-date=2022-11-29 |website=National Society of Film Critics |language=en}} Society of Texas Film Critics,{{Cite news |date=1998-01-02 |title=Texas critics honor 'Sweet Hereafter' |work=The Dallas Morning News |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0ED3DA7DC1444AD0&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |url-status=dead |access-date=2022-11-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024042113/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0ED3DA7DC1444AD0&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |archive-date=2012-10-24}} and the Satellite Awards.{{Cite web |title=1998 2nd Annual SATELLITE™ Awards |url=http://www.pressacademy.com/satawards/awards1998.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080201175654/http://www.pressacademy.com/satawards/awards1998.shtml |archive-date=2008-02-01 |access-date=2022-11-29 |website=International Press Academy}} Duvall was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor{{Cite news |date=March 8, 1998 |title=Screen Actors Guild |language=en-US |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/tv/1998/03/08/screen-actors-guild/6c84bfda-98cc-4bbc-92c7-d5f90d6f2d4b/ |access-date=2022-11-29 |issn=0190-8286}} and an Un Certain Regard Award at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.{{Cite web |last= |date=1998-04-23 |title=1998 Cannes Film Festival Lineup |url=https://www.indiewire.com/1998/04/1998-cannes-film-festival-lineup-82908/ |access-date=2022-11-29 |website=IndieWire |language=en}}

{{reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|0118632|The Apostle}}
• {{Rotten Tomatoes|apostle}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060318071816/http://artsandfaith.com/t100/2005/entry.php?film=5 The Apostle] at Arts & Faith Top 100 Spiritually Significant Films

{{Robert Duvall}}

{{Independent Spirit Award for Best Film}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Apostle}}

Category:1997 films

Category:1997 drama films

Category:1997 independent films

Category:1990s American films

Category:1990s English-language films

Category:American drama films

Category:Country music films

Category:English-language drama films

Category:English-language independent films

Category:Films about adultery in the United States

Category:Films about Christianity

Category:Films directed by Robert Duvall

Category:Films scored by David Mansfield

Category:Films set in Louisiana

Category:Films set in Texas

Category:Films shot in Louisiana

Category:Films shot in Texas

Category:Independent Spirit Award for Best Film winners

Category:Satellite Award–winning films