The Confession

I believe this was Alec Baldwin's most believable work in years. I was disappointed with Ben Kingsly, but anybody else would have been worse.

It is always good to see a movie that presents an idea that is original. Maybe I am wrong. Maybe this is a remake of a 50 year old movie, but I didn't see that one.

Rent it if you are an adult with a child.

7/10

I'm not a particularly avid follower of movie actors, or of movies as they're released, which probably explains why I found "The Confession"--and Alec Baldwin's performance in it--so surprising. I'd heard nothing about this film and saw it quite by accident.

Movies like "The Confession"--that is, movies with moral dilemmas at their center ("It's not hard to do the right thing; it's hard to know what the right thing is" is the central dilemma of the film)--often bypass the ambiguities of complex moral questions in favor of a single answer everyone can love.

In this film there are moral ambiguities aplenty, and the film deals honestly with the difficulty of facing those ambiguities head-on and taking a clear position. Alec Baldwin's performance was startling and complex--a beautiful thing to watch. The supporting cast, including Amy Irving, was top-notch, too.

I wonder what induced Kingsley, Irving, Noth and Baldwin to participate in this tripe. Understand their beliefs may have led them to do it, but the next time they have a spare weekend, perhaps they could spend it interviewing directors who have a modicum of talent and originality. It was a toss up for me between the direction and the script as to which was the most banal. The consummate professional cast struggled to give the piece some dignity but it was hopeless from the start. On a lighter note, even the delectable Chris Noth plain-janed himself into obscurity.

I was surprised to see viewers rating of 6 out o 10. I saw it on Cable & got glued to the TV, if not throughout, then at least for the most part. As always, I was impressed by Ben Kingsley's performance: so genuine & magnetic.

Great Performances by Alec Baldwin and Ben Kingsley. But too much time was spent to convert Alec, and reach to what has seemed to have been an obvious climax.