filmcritic . com presents a review from staff member norm schrager . you can find the review with full credits at <a href= " http : //filmcritic . com/misc/emporium . nsf/2a460f93626cd4678625624c007f2b46/06577663ed95e8618825695d00660958 ? opendocument " >http : //filmcritic . com/misc/emporium . nsf/2a460f93626cd4678625624c007f2b46/06577663ed95e8618825695d00660958 ? opendocument</a> i'm usually a sucker for a disney movie . blessed art thou , screened at the boston film festival , is a disney movie of sorts , but this ain't no little mermaid . the only disney involved here is tim disney , writer/director of this tale of theology , faith , and the sexes . the plot alone could make his great uncle walt thaw out , and this live-action film as a whole is appealing , gentle , and hopeful , despite its weaknesses . at a quiet monastery on a vineyard , brother anselm ( m . e . hackett ) claims to have witnessed a true miracle . he purports to have seen the angel gabriel himself descend to earth and initiate a sort of " connection " with anselm , one that disney smartly keeps vague . there's further confusion in that disney actually shows us the encounter , a strangely homoerotic visual that might have worked well in a dream sequence in the village people's can't stop the music . toss in the brother's androgynous look , and blessed art thou is an exciting little mystery right from act one . the older , superior brothers ( played by a crew of character actors led by bernard hill , captain smith in titanic ) question anselm's reports . but then anselm's meeting with gabriel seems to motivate another , well , miracle . some reviewers have chosen to give this one away , but i do believe the plot point to be a spoiler , so i won't . it's enough to say that it tests the faith of every member of the small order , in one way or another , and creates infighting within the previously peaceful monastery . disney , working from a story by rachel ingalls , does a fine job giving the narrative its due time to evolve and develop , but the script peters out where it counts the most -- at the end . the big finale that we hope we'll get doesn't have the passion and humility of the rest of the film , and it wraps too abruptly . but disney's first effort ( he is credited , by the way , as a contributing writer to 1988's oliver and company ) is filled with pleasing details -- that of a monk's life , of the workings of a vineyard , of the conversations that emerge between two men who have different interpretations of faith . that kind of attention makes a small project like this an entertaining endeavor . ( perhaps the biggest kick i got out of a film with such a sweet religious bent was that it was playing two doors down from the exorcist . ) the director also works in an editorial of his own , commenting on the politics of such a place , where a person of free will may join for the love of god , but is given commands by a higher ranking human . visually , there is a strong connection through disney's lens between the cell of a monastery and a prison cell . but for all the heavy commentary , it's surprising how light and easy blessed art thou feels . depending upon your point-of-view , that could be a strength or a weakness , but at a minimum , i expected a bit more punch at the finish . the film doesn't necessarily demand your 90 minutes in a theater , but , for a thoughtful , eyebrow-raising story , it works . you may now return to associating the disney name with plush toys . 
