Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Heavenly Pursuits (1986)
Director: Charles Gormley
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
An engaging satire on the miracle business, set in a Catholic school in Glasgow whose status-seeking authorities are much taxed by the problem of canonisation for their patron, the Blessed Edith Semple, who died in 1917 with one authenticated miracle to her credit. She needs two more, the Vatican sternly decrees. Meanwhile a sceptical remedial teacher (Conti) is quietly performing miracles of his own with backward kids, and is as startled as anyone when a couple of bizarre circumstances intervening in his life seem to smack of the miraculous. Treated with tongue-in-cheek seriousness, the resulting confusion of cross-purposes as the media jump on the band wagon treads a delicate path through the morass of cynicism, gullibility and wishfulness. Quirkily funny and admirably acted, it works beautifully largely because Gormley (scripting as well as directing) refuses to undersell any of his characters: everybody has his reasons.Author: TM
User reviews of this film
-
- A Berry said...
- Posted on Jun 29 2009 18:58 Did you find somewhere to buy the DVD, Lovefilm have offered to buy it if I can find it.
- Report as inappropriate
-
- E. Henderson said...
-
Posted on Mar 11 2008 19:45
i need to know if it is possible to buy a DVD of the film "Heavenly Pursuits" - anybody got any info on this?
ta
eh - Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: Charles Gormley
Producer: Michael Relph
Cast: Tom Conti, Helen Mirren, David Hayman, Brian Pettifer, Jennifer Black, Dave Anderson, Ewen Bremner full cast
Genre(s): Comedy
Duration: 91 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
London Children's Film Festival
Read our exclusive reviews of films playing at the 2009 London Children’s Film Festival
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'
Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations












What do you think?
Post your review now