Therese: The Story of Saint Therese of Lisieux (2004)

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Having recently pored over the writings of St. Therese in order to learn more about her, I've also been drawn to film portrayals of her. This film sticks to the letter of Therese's life, drawing much of the dialogue directly from her autobiography Story of a Soul and from the Last Conversations that her sisters and the other nuns wrote about her last days.First, its strengths: Visually the movie is very good, using authentic-looking (to me, anyway, though I'm no expert) wardrobes and props. There is a lot of color and the outdoor scenes are beautiful. The music is inspirational, perhaps a bit too inspirational at times. Some reviewers have complained about the acting, but I thought it was solid though not terrific: Somewhat better than a college theater production, and somewhat worse than Hollywood acting. The only actors who really seemed like they were forcing their lines were the "mean girls" at Therese's school.The script did a fair job of showing Therese's human side and her struggles. However, the script would have been far better had they followed the old screen writing adage "show, don't tell." Occasionally the movie resorts to narration by quoting directly from Therese's autobiography, sometimes with underwhelming results. Therese's dark night of the soul, for example, gets roughly one minute of the movie, most of it mere narration. One gets the sense that Therese was only depressed for a little while then got over it, when in reality she spent the last eighteen months of her life almost entirely in emotional desolation. Which leads me to my other gripe with the movie, which is the passage of time (or lack thereof). When Therese gets to the convent, one doesn't get the sense of many years passing; those who aren't familiar with Therese's story might get the false impression that she was only there for a year or two before she died. The other thing that it didn't show very well was how hard convent life really was. I understand that they wanted to make the movie very appealing visually, but a more minimalist approach might have been better when portraying life in the convent. Here the nuns spent six hours in prayer a day and were under a strict oath of silence during most of the day, which was eased for two hours of daily recreation. The nuns also suffered from the bitter cold in the winter (there was no heat). The movie does not really show any of these deprivations.I do appreciate that the movie went out of its way to show Therese's "little way" of making small, daily sacrifices for her fellow nuns out of love for Jesus. The In this regard, the movie did a better job of showing instead of telling. However, I still don't think this is a totally balanced picture of Therese from a historical standpoint. Lindsay Younce as Therese is meek and self-sacrificing, which are true aspects of who the Saint was. However, I think mostly due to an unbalanced script, she does not get a chance to show Therese's quiet strength and leadership. Therese was pretty much a de-facto novice mistress for the last few years of her life, supervising the novice nuns in the convent and looking out for their spiritual well-being. This, however, is not shown in the movie.What I think will be the greatest turn-off for most viewers is that the movie is done in a very pious fashion. While its not pompous or overdone, those who do not have faith are undoubtedly turned off by such things as a rather straightforward account of a miraculous healing, for example. However, the movie does have enough shades of grey to make it seem mostly true-to-life. The nuns in Therese's convent are full of human foibles, yet they are not portrayed as evildoers whom Therese must convert, but as sisters in Christ who are to be loved in spite of their faults. On the other hand, Therese's father and her sisters will probably come across as being too goody-goody for a modern audience, but it is our cynicism that makes them seem that way. To read Therese's writings, hers really was a loving family without much conflict.Overall, this is a solid movie but one that also has a lot of room for improvement. Cynical people might not like it much, but then again, the whole idea of sainthood is going to cause a lot of disagreement between believers and non-believers.

I'm trying to be witty with my title, a double-entendre referring to an audience's "disbelief" in fantastical events, as well as "disbelief" of a person without faith who is trying to understand events through the eyes of the believers.On both counts I'm sorry to say "Thérèse" failed with me. As much as I wanted to, I could not slip into believing these characters were anything more than actors, and I could not slip into believing that there was any great truth about faith & spirituality to be conveyed here.This film is very smooth and polished, much like a Hallmark Channel movie of the week, where everything seems to be straight out of a Filmmaking 101 textbook. From 1985. Everything is so syrupy sweet that, unless you are already primed & into the moment before the film starts, you may find yourself anxiously looking around, wondering if this is some elaborate joke. I'm not kidding: if someone were to dub a laugh track, this would make a funny satire. The script is so corny, and everything is just too perfect to be believable as part of our real world.In no way do I mean this to be a crack at the filmmakers' talents. I'm just saying that this film exists in a bubble of its own. Its beauty is privy to those who live inside the bubble. In that respect, its a lot like a nostalgic old song which only you can appreciate because it has inherent meaning to you (a summer at the beach, a first kiss, etc). But to those outside your nostalgic bubble, the song is just silly... and it probably is.

Since I already saw the movie, none of the comments spoiled my perception. I can only love Therese more. I read all of the previous comments. The guidelines say we have to restrain ourselves from the temptation of replying to the other comments; I'll try!What I will say is this - rather than write like a devil's advocate about this saint who is already canonized - and the cast and crew who should also become saints someday by following her little way, I'll just write a totally positive review, because I really appreciate Luke Films' beautiful movie of THERESE. Maybe love is blind because I see only goodness in everything about this film. St. Therese seems to have showered roses upon us all, and given HER permission for the making of the miracle! The characters are true role models. I'm praying for all the actors, the little ones have grown up more now 4 years later. Sometimes I quote their lines in my life. I did read her autobiography and 2 volumes of letters, which adds to my enjoyment of the film. After seeing it in the theater in Alhambra, I've watched the home video d.v.d. more than once - to study it and understand it better. This movie is the reason to own a d.v.d. player. My only disappointment is that the c.d. must have gotten scratched or something because it now has skips in it where scenes go back and repeat themselves (without rewind or fast-forward). Here is a movie which parents, Catholic schools, and parishes don't have to be ashamed to show their innocent-minded kids, teens, and young adults. Perhaps the d.v.d. chapter selection option would be a wise consideration for certain groups, to allow more time for discussion of study questions, when under a time limit, or to avoid some frightening theme in some cases. There are some mildly thematic elements under the frightening category but that's all - parental guidance can calm all fears. And the website has a lovely way of showing and sharing the miracle of Therese as well; somehow I have had trouble logging-into the website discussion board, I think I posted one comment a long time ago now I forget what I said. But I have become such a big fan. I started a fan club just for fun on Facebook (only positive comments allowed there!), I send out the post cards, put up the poster in my room (I wish the bus stop posters had the Therese movie poster, but I don't want to give up my copy of the poster!) The c.d. is perpetually in our c.d. player; each song IS different, but there are recurring themes... it is like one long symphony.

I saw this movie 4 times when it played in Nashville, and I cried each time. The love of a father for his daughters, and the love of a future Saint for her Beloved is portrayed in an effective and moving film that captures the essence of the Catholic faith.Leonardo Defilippis is the director, principle writer, and male lead actor. He is both charming and inspiring in his role as the father of Therese.St. Therese is played by Lindsay Younce, who infuses her character with beauty, wit, and intensity. This is one actress to watch in the years to come.If you are a Catholic, you will be blessed and your heart will be touched by seeing Therese. And, even if you aren't a Catholic you can find much to love about this enchanting film and the life and faith of the widely-loved Saint who inspired it.