Thérèse: The Story of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (2004)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Leonardo Defilippis

Writers:

Patti Defillipis (writer)
Saint Therese of Lisieux (writer)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

Ordinary girl. Extraordinary soul.

Plot:

The mesmerizing story of a young girl's romance with God. Her faith, trials, and sacrifices reveal a way of life based on love and simplicity...

Plot Keywords:

Saint | Sacrifice | Faith | Last Rites | Cathedral

Cast

Leonardo Defilippis	...	Louis Martin
Maggie Rose Fleck	...	Marie Martin
Susan Funk	...	Sister Anne
Linda Hayden	...	Pauline Martin
Sybil Johnson	...	Sister Aimee
Judith Kaplan	...	Mother Marie de Gonzague
Samantha Kramer	...	Sister Augustine
Jen Nikolaisen	...	Celine Martin
Mandy Rimer	...	Leonie Martin
Mary Magda Schultz	...	Sister Vincent
Brian Shields	...	Pranzini
Melissa Sumpter	...	Young Therese
Lindsay Younce	...	Therese Martin

Also Known As:

Thérèse (USA) (short title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for some mild thematic elements.

Runtime:

USA:96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG (certificate #39107)

Filming Locations:

France

Company:

Saint Luke Productions

Disappointing biopic of great saint

This movie was a disappointment after all the hype attributed to it. I was expecting a much deeper portrait of a saint who had such a profound spirituality. Instead the results were mediocre at best, and perhaps didn't event scratch the surface of who this saint really was as a person and Doctor of the Church. Indeed, by the end of the movie, the viewer is left with a sort of cognitive dissonance (aptly written in Steven D. Greydanus's review) as he tries to figure out what exactly made this saint so special that it merited a feature film about her? Instead of really trying to delve into the depths of St. Therese, the movie simply takes exerts out of "Story of a Soul" and tries to literally put them on the screen. So much was treated superficially about St. Therese's spirituality - her "Little Way," the many struggles she went through and how she handled them (including her vocational crises), and the list goes on. Yes, some may say it's a good Catholic movie, but it doesn't extend beyond that paradigm. Certainly the movie does not have the quality to be marketed to the general public (which is a shame because they really could've benefited from St. Therese's spirituality on the heels of a film that did appeal to mass audiences despite it's traditional depictions - The Passion of the Christ)