THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE
It is impossible to approach THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE without thinking of William Friedkin’s film version of William Peter Blatty’s THE EXORCIST. Whereas the latter caused a huge sensation immediately following its December 26, 1973 premiere due to its explicit subject matter, THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE, though well-made, is unlikely to cause a similar phenomenon, although it does deserve to be successful. Director Scott Derrickson, who helmed 2000’s awful URBAN LEGENDS: FINAL CUT, here shows great maturity in balancing the dramatic with the horrific.The crux of the story is essentially told in flashback. Father Moore (Tom Wilkinson) is arrested after a 19 year-old woman, Emily Rose (Jennifer Carpenter), dies soon after he performs a grueling exorcism on her. Erin Bruner (Laura Linney), a gutsy attorney, is asked by the Catholic Church to talk Father Moore out of testifying to avoid public embarrassment. Father Moore, however, has only one true objective – to tell Emily Rose’s story out of his love, respect, and total willingness to help her. He admirably risks his reputation, his freedom, and his life to tell what he believes to be the truth. Ethan Thomas (Campbell Scott, son of late actor George C. Scott of THE CHANGELING and THE EXORCIST III: LEGION), the prosecutor, wants to convince the jury that Emily’s out-of-control actions are a result of epileptic grand mal seizures, and that Father Moore acted irresponsibly by telling Emily to forgo taking her medication. He also goes to great lengths to point out: Emily studied several foreign languages which explains her bouts of speaking in a foreign tongue; the epileptic fits caused her vocal chords to make two separate concurrent sounds; in short, he cannot mask his desire to completely debunk the whole supernatural possession element of the case.
After taking on the case, Bruner herself begins waking up every night at 3:00 am just as Emily did and experiences noises that she cannot explain. Father Moore is aware of this, and he warns her to be careful of “the demons.”
On the verge of losing the case, Bruner is suddenly approached by (surprise) a medical doctor who witnessed the exorcism and, after keeping his name out of the whole affair, now wants to testify, which could turn the whole case around 180 degrees. Before he can, however, he is suddenly killed in a car “accident,” which looks much too convenient to the shrewd viewer. Bruner soldiers on, and puts her career on the line until the jury makes their final decision.
The film makes a big point out of the nature of uncertainty – was Emily Rose possessed or not? We don’t know, it’s really up to the viewers to decide, as there is bound to be enormous controversy and ambiguity when dealing with matters like this.
Jennifer Carpenter at times looks similar to Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen and gives a helluva good performance, writhing and contorting herself as the demon has his way with her.
The ad campaign for this film leads one to believe that it is a full-fledged horror film. It isn’t. There is more onscreen courtroom drama than horror, so be prepared for a lot of talk. Despite this, there are some damn good scares in the film. Not too many, but there are a few stand-outs: Emily’s walk down the hallway; the classroom sequence; and the scene where Jason (Joshua Close) awakens and finds Emily contorted on the floor.
Caveat emptor: bring earplugs. The exorcism scenes are loud.
Derrickson wisely avoids the insurmountable feat of attempting to top THE EXORCIST. He fills the 2.35:1 anamorphic frame with both languid and frenetic energy to counterpoint good and evil. He co-wrote the script with Paul Harris Boardman, a friend from his USC days and collaborator on other works in addition to this film. This collaboration should continue on to another project which, I hope, will be just as good as this film.
