God needed a fighter, and He found one. Starring Mark Wahlberg, Mel Gibson, Jackie Weaver, and Teresa Ruiz, Father Stu is an unflinchingly honest, funny and uplifting drama based on the true story of boxer-turned-priest Stuart Long’s inspiring journey to redemption.

Producer and star Mark Wahlberg describes the film as his ‘love letter to God,’ and said that bringing Father Stu’s story to the big screen reaffirmed his faith and his commitment to serving God. Sony Pictures believes that faith-based audiences will love the honest depiction of Father Stu’s life—especially since his journey was one of such sincere and profound transformation.

Based on a true story, Father Stu is an unflinchingly honest, funny and ultimately uplifting drama about a lost soul who finds his purpose in a most unexpected place. When an injury ends his amateur boxing career, Stuart Long (Mark Wahlberg) moves to L.A. dreaming of stardom.

While scraping by as a supermarket clerk, he meets Carmen (Teresa Ruiz), a Catholic Sunday school teacher who seems immune to his bad-boy charm. Determined to win her over, the longtime agnostic starts going to church to impress her. But surviving a terrible motorcycle accident leaves him wondering if he can use his second chance to help others find their way, leading to the surprising realisation that he is meant to be a Catholic priest.

Despite a devastating health crisis and the skepticism of Church officials and his divorced parents (Mel Gibson and Jacki Weaver), Stu pursues his vocation with courage and compassion, inspiring not only those closest to him but countless others along the way.

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Behind the Scenes

• Both Wahlberg and Gibson are sincere Catholics: Mark Wahlberg calls this his ‘love letter to God’ in Religion News
• There is swearing in this film, and it doesn’t shy away from portraying Stuart Long as he really was. Why? Mark Wahlberg talks about this choice in The National Catholic Register
• Stuart Long’s own diocese has written a letter of recommendation for the film. Read it here.

Classification: TBC, Father Stu does contain explicit language, but critics are highlighting this as a point in its favour;
“The swearing in this film serves the same purpose of glorifying God that the explicit violence did in “The Passion of The Christ”: It increases the authenticity, which makes seeing God’s glory all the more clear. This is how real people like those depicted in the story that need God’s grace actually talk.”—Religion Unplugged
Genre: Drama
Key Demographic: Faith-based, Catholic

Article provided with thanks to Movies Change People.