I saw The Exorcism

I had no idea until this weekend that Russell Crowe was in another exorcist movie. As such, Joshua John Miller (little Homer of Near Dark and son of Jason Miller, aka The Exorcist's Father Damien Karras) brings us The Exorcism, a stand-alone effort where this time Crowe is the one who becomes possessed. (BTW: The film was shot prior to The Pope's Exorcist and was produced by Kevin Williamson of Scream fame.)  

Crowe plays Tony Miller, an actor who's struggled with his wife's death and beaten subsequent drug and alcohol addictions. He now has the chance to redeem himself by enacting an impassioned priest in an implied, Exorcist redux coined The Georgetown Project. The thing is, his predecessor died on set from an undefined cause, with weird, technical glitches ensuing, in line with the "urban" legends of such horror classics as The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby, Poltergeist and The Omen.  

Though the rusty Miller attempts to extinguish his qualms to give a stellar, comeback performance, he begins to exhibit several alarming quirks, including catatonia, bleeding and violent outbursts. Considering his renown addiction, it seems to others that he's relapsing in a most detrimental way, which only makes his situation more dire, in particular when signs of genuine, demonic infiltration rise to the surface. 

David Hyde Pierce's calm, consulting Father Conor hopes to quell the personality-warping circumstances, though Miller's memories of abuse when he was a choir boy don't make that easy. Sam Worthington, Adam Goldberg, Tracy Bonner, Marcenae Lynette, Chloe Bailey Blake and Ryan Simpkins, who plays the frantic actor's disquieted daughter (and carries a substantial sum of the melodrama) also engage Miller's predicament, and a few of them even try to get him clear and adjusted, but since this is a horror picture, the odds of success are at best precarious, though would fans of the genre have it any other way? 

Joshua Miller's script, cowritten with M.A. Fortin, is pretty streamlined, meaning that it never beats around the bush and allows Crowe to go to town, as he lifts some of his Jekyll/Hyde mannerisms from The Mummy 2017, as well as the forthright dignity of Father Gabriele Amorth from The Pope's Exorcist.

I like stories where poor blokes get messed up (plagued and/or cursed) due to no fault of their own. Heck, I even hold The Brain From Planet Arous in high regard since it lets John Agar show off his acting chops. The Exorcism is no different for Crowe, and in the hands of such an accomplished actor, the subject matter can't help but excel. 

Yeah, some may dismiss The Exorcism as an abbreviated, demonic also-ran, but that doesn't mean it ever drops the ball. As an allegorical, psycho-shocker (and for Crowe connoisseurs), it hits the hellbent ball right outta the park.