Diary of a City Priest

Winner of the top prize at the Heartland Film Festival, this low-key faith-based drama is based on the memoirs of John McNamee, who for more than 30 years has ministered to one of Philadelphia's toughest neighborhoods. David Morse, one of Hollywood's most dependable character actors, gives an earnest performance as the increasingly weary Father "Mac," who struggles amidst bureaucratic hassles and his own internal spiritual crises to make a difference in the lives of his impoverished parishioners. The scenes in which members of McNamee's flock wake him at all hours for food handouts or to be bailed out of jail wear on the viewer as they do on McNamee, but that just makes the occasional success story--such as when one local boy is accepted into college--truly inspiring. Recommended. (K. Lee Benson)