Review of Father Stu

This was an inspirational story of a former boxer who took the long way around to find his true vocation as a Catholic priest. Raised in a broken home and aggrieved by the death of a younger brother at an early age, Stuart Long (Mark Wahlberg) faces the challenges in his life with a fierce determination to attain his goals, even if he doesn't perceive the eventual outcome. Along the way, he takes menial jobs in a struggle to become an actor and is inspired to join the church when he sets his eyes on a beautiful young woman (Teresa Ruiz). What it all leads to is a realization that his true calling was to inspire others to Christ as a Catholic priest, and so begins his mission to get accepted as a seminarian and prove to doubters that his resolve is sincere. Which becomes tested even more so when he's diagnosed with a progressive muscle disorder that threatens to cut short his aspirations. Stuart's journey reunites his estranged parents (Mel Gibson, Jacki Weaver) who in their own individual ways attain a redemption of sorts through the support they find in their hearts to offer to their afflicted son. Bill Long (Gibson) in particular, learns what it means to be a father and husband through the pain and suffering of Father Stu, ordained a priest after he had given up hope of doing so. There's an early scene in the movie at a bar when an unknown patron offers Stuart Long some cryptic advice that bears out in a most unexpected way. No explanation is offered when Stuart searches for an answer, though one might suspect it was counsel from an unassuming guardian angel.