Reviews

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New York

Minions: The Rise of Gru

A ’70s vibe adds verve to the animated origin story “Minions: The Rise of Gru” (Universal). The result is a generally wholesome and breezy bit of entertainment. But a minor ingredient in the mix plays on Catholic sensibilities in a way that may prove slightly grating to parents of faith.

• ‘Father Stu’ chronicles a hard-won spiritual triumph  

  

  By JOHN MULDERIG, Catholic News Service 
  Published April 20, 2022

  Positive priest characters are certainly a rarity in contemporary films. So Catholics will welcome the uplifting fact-based biography “Father Stu.” While deeply moving, however, this dramatization of the life of Stuart Long is also hard-edged.

• ‘Spirit Untamed’ highlights friendship, love of family

  

  By SISTER HOSEA RUPPRECHT, Catholic News Service
  Published June 9, 2021

  Like its predecessors, “Spirit Untamed” takes viewers back to the era when wild horses still roamed the West. This time, however, the humans who interact with them experience healing from their own hurts even as they try to rescue the majestic creatures.

• Pray: The Story of Patrick Peyton

  By JOHN MULDERIG, Catholic News Service
  Published October 16, 2020

  “The family that prays together stays together.” Although he popularized rather than originated that pithy saying, the sentence aptly sums up the message of Holy Cross Father Patrick Peyton, who advocated it both tirelessly and with great success.