We rented this, settled in and prepared for the worst. All the reviews had been bad and guess what? You're expecting us to say they were right aren't you? Nope, this movie was pretty damn nifty -- oh it definitely had its problems but not in the "Earth is going to stop spinning because of this horrible movie" way the critics would have us believe.

Usually we don't review movies from a VHS viewing but we missed this one at the theaters and haven't tracked down the DVD...yet. We will go get the DVD because after watching the video it seems Stigmata got a bad rap from the critics because they didn't get it.

This movie took a severe beating from Roger Ebert, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post and the New York Times. Of all the crazy things, the L.A. Times seems to be the only major market that got it. And what they got was that Stigmata wasn't supposed to be a Freddy, Jason or Michael movie. There is no devil chasing Arnold and Gabriel Byrne doesn't sprout horns in this movie. It's steeped in a great deal of religious imagery and we understand that can make a lot of people uncomfortable. And maybe that explains some of the bashing.

Patricia Arquette plays a character we actually liked. She parties, goes to work, has cool friends, it's a normal character. This isn't Gabriel Byrne's strongest role but the writing was a little tepid for his character. There are definitely some leaps of faith you have to take and be prepared to suspend belief, but for criminy's sake it's a movie. The worst thing we ran across was a pretty weak vehicle used to connect Patricia Arquette with the whole mess that ensues. [You'll know what we mean when you see it.] And although that may seem like a helluva jump to make, it's still worth watching. The rest is done well and the movie speeds along with nary a bump.

It's definitely not flattering to the Catholic church, who in this film is a pretty evil entity all by it's lonesome. It had a little Oliver Stone-ish quality regarding conspiracies behind what we believe to be the true gospels -- but bottom line? It was entertaining. We liked it and we'll watch it again when we can afford the DVD. Hey, someone pass the collection plate!