ingredients : down-on-his-luck evangelist , church 
synopsis : sonny dewey ( robert duvall ) is a tireless texas pentecostal preacher who unexpectedly catches his wife ( farrah fawcett ) in bed with another guy . 
in a regrettable crime of passion he takes a baseball bat to the guy's head , and suddenly finds himself a fugitive for murder , and estranged from his wife and two kids . 
to atone for his sins , sonny flees to a rural bayou town in louisiana and baptizes himself as a new creature - - the apostle e . f . as the apostle e . f . sonny's main mission is to revive an abandoned church community and preach the gospel at the local radio station . 
soon he sets about resurrecting the one way road to heaven holiness temple . 
but sonny knows his time is short ; one day the police will find him . 
opinion : this movie is a thought-provoking look at an evangelist in real life terms . 
i believe that robert duvall ( who is the producer , director , writer , and main star of the apostle ) deserves an oscar for his performance as sonny the religious crusader - - a performance which is so complex and realistic it ranks as one of the finest acting performances on film . 
duvall's portrayal of a true believer is authentic , superb , and inspired ; it offers the audience a completely honest look at southern religion , as well as a portrait of a fallible , complicated man driven by his beliefs . 
incidentally , in real life duvall was just as 'driven' in getting the project underway . 
since no major hollywood studio wanted to risk financing a complex movie about an evangelist , the apostle as a project lay dormant for almost 13 years before duvall was able to get it done , paying for its production with his own money ( about five million dollars ) . 
in terms of hard-hitting realism and character portrayal the apostle would rank as one of the best movies of this decade , and i emphatically recommend the apostle for connoisseurs of stage and fine acting on film . 
similarly , those with a steep background in pentecostal christianity would find the apostle a thought-provoking experience . 
on the other hand , the apostle's main strength - - duvall's preaching - - is also what limits the apostle's target audience . 
in terms of plot and pure entertainment value , the apostle is definitely not for everyone . 
teenagers , action fans , comedy fans , and people who find church completely boring should stay far away from this movie , since three quarters of the film is watching sonny preach at church . 
in other words , the apostle is a four star performance , but with a very limited audience .