Russell Crowe is one of the great international movie stars to shoot to worldwide fame in the last thirty years. That can’t be controversial, can it? The man has a Best Actor Oscar. The mainstream agrees! Or did, anyway. He’s been around a while and may be entering a new era of his pretty cool career in film. His first feature credit dates back to 1990. Most accounts cite ROMPER STOMPER (1992) as his first big splash, but naturally, the first time I remember seeing him was in THE QUICK AND THE DEAD (1994). You ain’t gonna go wrong if Sam Raimi is shooting you like a hero, while being lit by DP Dante Spinotti (MANHUNTER, THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, HEAT). It was Crowe’s first film in America. He was born in New Zealand and started acting in Australia.
Next time I thought about Russell Crowe was in college, when some frat-type guys I knew were all about his portrayal as SID 6.7, the VR-generated villain from VIRTUOSITY (1995). I guess SID 6.7 was a kind of meme to those guys, in the moments right before the internet really even became a thing. Regardless of the movie (I remember the soundtrack being kinda cool), the casting was aces. It’s not easy to cast a believable antagonist for Denzel to play against. He’s gonna knock most people off the screen. Russell Crowe is one of the fewest male actors I could name who is punching in that weight class. It sort of felt like Russell was chasing Denzel for a while there: Both of them were up for Best Actor in 1999 and again in 2001, with Russell winning in 2000 and Denzel taking it in 2001, and by the time they reteamed for 2007’s AMERICAN GANGSTER, Russell was right there next to Denzel on the poster.
This essay is one of the few times you’ll hear me mention the Oscars, because this was one of the few times I really cared about the Oscars. 1999 is generally acknowledged as one of the greatest years in American film history, yet somehow, in a year where both Russell (f0r THE INSIDER) and Denzel (for THE HURRICANE, which he was amazing in) were up for Best Actor, somebody decided to give it to somebody else for some other movie. How embarassing. By that time, I was solidly in the bank for Denzel — get me to talk about the greatest male movie star of the past thirty or forty years and that’d be my guy — but in 2000, I’ve gotta admit, I was pulling for Russell. With L.A. CONFIDENTIAL (1997), his real breakout in America, Russell was unleashed as a potent physical presence on screen. If that’s how you knew him best at that time, look at him in THE INSIDER. Total 360. Michael Mann said something at the time to the effect of wanting Russell for that part due to his ferocity — but not in that case external. We already knew he could do external ferocity. He proved it in 2000 with GLADIATOR, the movie Russell did get that well-deserved Oscar for. I’ll always see it as a “we were wrong last year, here you go” for missing the boat on awarding Russell for THE INSIDER. I know it’s more about the popularity of GLADIATOR, but come on. Go watch THE INSIDER again.
Russell Crowe, along with Guy Pearce, Heath Ledger, Eric Bana, and Hugh Jackman (and a little later Chris Hemsworth and Sam Worthington), were grouped by the press early on as representing not just acting talent from “Down Under,” but also of a kind of masculinity that movies weren’t otherwise giving us too much of at the time. The late 1990s were full of teen idols, and the 2000s went from Johnny Depp as a pirate (weird, if you think about it) before quickly taking a swerve into the era of the superhero. Russell Crowe, along with most of those other guys, wasn’t just eminently believable as a shitkicking action star, but he could also do really transformative capital-A acting work, although what I loved about his work that it wasn’t “capital-A.” Some dramatic actors, when they take on serious roles, are conspicuous about it, but there was something so genuine about what Russell brought to his characters, whether he was playing a Nobel Laureate or a Captain in the Royal Navy. Whether or not I loved every movie Crowe made, I always loved watching him work.
Somewhere around 2010’s ROBIN HOOD, the plot feels like it gets a little lost. This could be just my perception, but it feels like movies as a whole didn’t make good enough use of what they had in Russell Crowe. He played Jor-El in MAN OF STEEL, and maybe Crowe as the Marlon Brando of our time does make some kind of sense. He sang with Hugh Jackman in LES MISÉRABLES, which, consider how badass both are capable of being, I might compare to Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin only ever teaming up for… PAINT YOUR WAGON. Crowe was nearly completely wasted in movies I was excited about seeing him in before actually seeing them, like THE MUMMY and THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER. And he was fucking magical in THE NICE GUYS, but sometimes it feels like the only people who saw that movie are me and everybody I follow on Twitter. I know Russell Crowe still has the spark of the movie star I’ve loved him for being for a couple decades, but he needs more movies to be allowed to do it in.
So… THE POPE’S EXORCIST. This is the first big production with Russell Crowe as “the guy on the poster” in some time. (Crowe wrote and directed a movie released in 2022 called POKER FACE that I still need to see.) He was “the guy” in 2020’s UNHINGED, but before that… was it THE NICE GUYS? It’s good to see Russell Crowe as “the guy on the poster,” is what I’m trying to drive home. In THE POPE’S EXORCIST, Crowe plays Father Gabriele Amorth, an Italian Catholic priest who passed from our universe in 2016. He was a real person, and the late William Friedkin made a documentary about him. Father Amorth served in the Italian resistance during World War II and later became a priest. Under the jurisdiction of the Pope, Father Amorth claims to have performed many thousands of exorcisms.
THE POPE’S EXORCIST is set in Spain in 1987. Father Amorth (Russell Crowe) is dispatched to exorcise a demon from a boy named Henry, who has moved into an abbey with his mother Julia and his older sister Amy after his father died in a car accident. The abbey belonged to the father’s family. It is badly in need of repair, and also it has a demon named Asmodeus lurking about. Father Amorth receives his assignment from the Pope himself, played here by Franco Nero. In 1987 the Pope would have been Pope John Paul II, though he is never named as such. Father Amorth wrote many books about his experiences. It’s unclear if any of those directly went into the plot of THE POPE’S EXORCIST. Assuming poetic license was taken by the filmmakers feels like a reasonable approach. Director Julius Avery previously made OVERLORD, where World War II-era paratroopers do battle with Nazi-created mutant zombies. I enjoyed OVERLORD and I enjoyed THE POPE’S EXORCIST. My only point is that we, and Russell Crowe, find ourselves some distance here from the attention to historical detail of a filmmaker like Michael Mann.
The opening sequence of THE POPE’S EXORCIST finds Father Amorth working an earlier exorcism. He brings in a pig and challenges the demon possessing a man to enter the animal. Then he confidently picks up a shotgun and SPOILER WARNING kills the pig. Opening sequences are there to set the movie’s tone. THE POPE’S EXORCIST is no THE EXORCIST. In case there were any lingering doubt about how seriously to take this enterprise, however, we next meet Father Amorth as he is traveling on his Lambretta scooter.
You may have already seen this image (or one from the good Father’s many other scooter jaunts in the film) if you have been anywhere near the internet since the first trailers for THE POPE’S EXORCIST. I am mixed on it. I suppose what I want to talk about, by doing such an extended run-up about Russell Crowe’s filmography when talking to this movie, is what I would have to call the Cage-ification of our last remaining movie stars. It’s the idea of turning images from movies into meme-able moments. In this case, Russell Crowe on a Lambretta. Of course, it’s delightful — I’m not a humorless monster. It’s funny. It’s funny, because Russell Crowe’s frame is clearly not meant for this particular bike. It’s funny, because we wouldn’t expect the Pope’s personal exorcist to be getting around on a scooter. (Although what would he drive?) It’s funny, because Russell Crowe’s persona, as a result of two decades of American media, has a relatively serious, if not dour, tone, and this immediately lightens it. But set aside the question if this is right for a movie about allegedly, if hazily, true events about a boy being possessed by an evil spirit — do I really want to be laughing at Russell Crowe? Understand that I know he’s in on the joke. God bless him. He has a better sense of humor about himself than I may have about him. I think Russell Crowe is a riot in THE NICE GUYS, but I’m laughing with him there. Some people are concerned with the sanctity of the Catholic church. I’m concerned with the sanctity of movie stars.
Our dearly departed friend Mike McPadden wrote about this trend when he wrote about MANDY (2018). While I disagreed with him about that movie, I absolutely think he was on point with identifying the trend. Memes are fun online, but they can be deadly to movies. Go all the way back to SNAKES ON A PLANE. People having fun with the movie’s premise online doesn’t mean they’ll show up comparably. Is it possible the “Dracula on a boat” meme killed the box office for this year’s THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER? At least in part? That movie is way more fun if you use it for its intended purpose — watching it — than using it for likes and ReTweets. I’m not so much worried about people seeing THE POPE’S EXORCIST or not — the movie made a healthy profit and looks likely to get a sequel. I just think there are things Nicolas Cage can do that not every star can do. Nicolas Cage has been making the kind of choices that kids nowadays use for memes for his entire career. Russell Crowe came out of the gate as a top-flight onscreen brawler with the acting chops of a 1970s New Hollywood icon. We still need that! Not many people can do it, and it’s not like there are a whole lot of young Russell Crowes coming up.
Then again, maybe the man just wanted to have fun, and THE POPE’S EXORCIST, while thoroughly unserious and not for a moment surprising (aside from maybe the aforementioned pig incident), is a ton of fun. The supporting cast does great work as the “straight men” to Russell Crowe’s version of Father Amorth. Alex Essoe, a big star to horror fans for STARRY EYES, HOMEWRECKER, DOCTOR SLEEP, and The Haunting of Bly Manor, plays the terrified and confused mother. (She’s got at least one amazing “Oh my God!” for the ages, after one of the rude moments generated by her possessed son.) Also very likable as Amorth’s junior priest is Daniel Zovatto, and Laurel Marsden and Peter DeSouza-Feighoney are very convincing as the kids. Crowe’s Italian accent feels technically accurate but also sort of preposterous. Chris Rock once joked something to the effect that there is no period in time that casting Russell Crowe could not make convincing. I used to agree whole-heartedly. Now we’re down to about 87% agree on that one.
But I liked THE POPE’S EXORCIST. I can be underwhelmed by a movie and still have fun with it. This ain’t the New Yorker. This is Daily Grindhouse, baby. At this point, there aren’t too many exorcism setpieces I haven’t seen done, and while Avery and company don’t bring too much innovation, they bring a lot of energy and an admirable willingness to get crazy. While I do miss the excitement of turn-of-the-millennium Russell Crowe, I’m genuinely curious to see where the Russell Crowe of 2023 and beyond is headed next. Is it back on the road to the Oscars? Is he going to get his own MANDY? Is he going to continue morphing into Oliver Reed? Or can I put my vote in early for THE POPE’S EXORCIST III?
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Tags: Alex Essoe, Asmodeus, Cornell John, Daniel Zovatto, Father Gabriele Amorth, Franco Nero, Horror, Italy, Jed Kurzel, Julius Avery, Khalid Mohtaseb, Laurel Marsden, Peter DeSouza-Feighoney, Ralph Ineson, Religion, Rome, Russell Crowe, Ryan O'Grady, Satan, Spain, The 1980s, The Pope
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