ON FAITH & MEDIA | Hounddog | American Catholic

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Hounddog

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Source: Catholic News Service

Atmospheric, well-acted, but overwrought and ultimately pointless melodrama set in 1950s Alabama about a lonely little girl (Dakota Fanning) with an Elvis Presley fixation, her mentally impaired father (David Morse), his estranged girlfriend (Robin Wright Penn), and religious zealot grandmother (Piper Laurie). Director Deborah Kampmeier gets high marks for settting the mood, but the backwoods Southern gothic story—replete with snakes both real and symbolic, a kindly wise black neighbor (Afemo Omilami), and oh-so-cathartic blues—fails to convince even in this allegorical context. A brief, nongraphic, underage rape, some sexual talk and a brief nongraphic adult encounter, nonsexual rear male nudity, underage drinking and a moderately jaundiced view of religion. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is O—morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R—restricted; under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

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Rita of Cascia: Like Elizabeth Ann Seton, Rita of Cascia was a wife, mother, widow and member of a religious community. Her holiness was reflected in each phase of her life.
<p>Born at Roccaporena in central Italy, Rita wanted to become a nun but was pressured at a young age into marrying a harsh and cruel man. During her 18-year marriage, she bore and raised two sons. After her husband was killed in a brawl and her sons had died, Rita tried to join the Augustinian nuns in Cascia. Unsuccessful at first because she was a widow, Rita eventually succeeded. </p><p>Over the years, her austerity, prayerfulness and charity became legendary. When she developed wounds on her forehead, people quickly associated them with the wounds from Christ's crown of thorns. She meditated frequently on Christ's passion. Her care for the sick nuns was especially loving. She also counseled lay people who came to her monastery. </p><p>Beatified in 1626, Rita was not canonized until 1900. She has acquired the reputation, together with St. Jude, as a saint of impossible cases. Many people visit her tomb each year.</p>

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