The Exorcism of Emily Rose

When watching the Exorcism of Emily Rose it's hard not to be frusterated by the one bad decision that essentially ruins the movie. Director and co-writer of the film Scott Derickson decides to go a different path than every other movie ever done on this topic, which I admire. But his decision to turn the film into a courtroom drama, and flashback to the actuall posession and all the demonic stuff the audience actually came for, is basically him deciding to shoot off his own foot. The incredibly well shot, edited, and acted scenes involving the attempted exorcism, the interviewing of witnesses before their actual testimony is ruined by the other half of the film which seems like one very long and drawn out Law and Order episode. A film like this just doesn't work as a courtroom drama, which oddly enough is why it hasn't been done like that before. Who'd have thought? But focussing on the positive aspects of the film, Tom Wilkinson is at times jaw-dropping as the priest under prosecution. Jennifer Carpenter was cast very well as the possessed girl, her face is genuinely horrifying and she gives a performance that at one point in the film stops the heart. This point is during the attempted excorcism in the barn, the scene is shot to perfection and the timing and editing is absolutely flawless. The movie is worth seeing just for this one scene, that is as good as anything we saw in William Peter Blattey's The Exorcist. It's too bad that some poor directorial decisions ruined a potentially classic and very memorable film. But still, thumbs up.