IMDb > True Confessions (1981)
True Confessions
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True Confessions (1981) More at IMDbPro »


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Overview

User Rating:
6.3/10   2,491 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 12% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
John Gregory Dunne (novel)
John Gregory Dunne (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for True Confessions on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
2 October 1981 (Finland) more
Genre:
Plot:
De Niro (a Catholic Priest) and Duvall (a Homicide Detective) play brothers drawn together after many years apart... more | add synopsis
Awards:
1 win more
User Comments:

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Robert De Niro ... Father Des Spellacy (as Robert DeNiro)

Robert Duvall ... Det. Tom Spellacy
Charles Durning ... Jack Amsterdam
Kenneth McMillan ... Frank Crotty
Ed Flanders ... Dan T. Campion
Cyril Cusack ... Cardinal Danaher
Burgess Meredith ... Msgr. Seamus Fargo
Rose Gregorio ... Brenda Samuels

Dan Hedaya ... Howard Terkel

Gwen Van Dam ... Mrs. Fazenda
Thomas Hill ... Mr. Fazenda (as Tom Hill)
Jeanette Nolan ... Mrs. Spellacy
Jorge Cervera Jr. ... Eduardo Duarte
Susan Myers ... Bride
Louisa Moritz ... Whore
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Additional Details

Runtime:
108 min | Spain:110 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
During the filming of the movie, Robert De Niro was once quoted as saying, "If we get through one shot before lunch or one day of shooting were considered ourselves lucky." more
Goofs:
Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Tom is on the phone with the psychic, he repeats that she's from Guin, Alabama. He pronounces it "GOO-in," when the name of the town is actually pronounced "gween" or, less commonly, "gu-WEEN." more
Quotes:
[Tom gives Des the rosary he took from the priest who died while in bed with a prostitute]
Des Spellacy: He might have been there on a pastoral call.
Tom Spellacy: When was the last time you hung your pants over the side of the bed while making a house call?
Des Spellacy: I admit, that's not the way they teach you at the seminary.
more
Movie Connections:
Version of Who Is the Black Dahlia? (1975) (TV) more
Soundtrack:
Memories of You more

FAQ

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20 out of 23 people found the following comment useful.
superb, 21 January 2004
8/10

I had seen this excellent film when it was first released over 20 years ago. I had forgotten about it completely and came across it on the mystery channel recently. When it first came out I recall that no less a personage than William F. Buckley - not normally in the film reviewing business - raved about it.

Having just seen it again, I am astonished at what a superb film this is, and that I could have forgotten it. Consider the credits - Joan Didion as writer, and Robert Duvall, Robert deNiro, Charles Durning and and Burgess Meredith.

Those expecting simply a crime story will be disappointed, for the horrific murder that is the centerpiece of the movie is nothing more than, in Hitchcock's term, a 'McGuffin' on which to hang a richly human tale of corruption, guilt, brotherly conflict and devotion, and redemption. The portrayal of the necessary compromises that even good institutions - e.g. the church - must make to exist and operate in the world is as good a portrayal of the essential sinfulness of the human condition as any. In fact I feel that it is impossible for anyone without at least some semblance of religious sensibility to appreciate the true character of this movie.

The period setting and flavor is excellent and the production values are superb. Contrary to viewers who were bored I could not tear myself away from the screen.

This one is truly an overlooked and forgotten - dare I use an overworked term? - masterpiece.

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