Martin Scorsese has been working for nearly three decades to bring his passion project to the big screen. An adaptation of the acclaimed 1966 novel, Silence is loosely based on a true story about Jesuit priests who travel to Japan searching for their mentor while their new converts endure intense persecution at the hands of tribal leaders.
Andrew Garfield, playing an intensely religious but deeply conflicted man for the second time this year (after Hacksaw Ridge), stars as one of the priests who wonders if the adversity he's facing is God testing him, or if God is really there at all. Adam Driver (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) plays the other priest and Liam Neeson (Taken) – in a small part – as the missing missionary.
The film will open in theaters in limited release on December 23, but it might be a tough sell, given that it's about huge philosophical questions and features martyrs being crucified in the ocean and set on fire. But it's likely to be nominated for a slew of Oscars anyway. It's already been cited by the National Board of Review as one of the year's 10 best movies. They also gave Jay Cocks and Scorsese the award for Best Adapted Screenplay. It's still my most anticipated film of 2016.
About Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about.
I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague.
Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work.
In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo.
I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.
