I never thought I’d refer to a movie as “heart-warming”, but I think this one might fall under that category. Saint Ralph is a story about a young boy who has just entered the 9th grade and is trying everything he can to help his mother wake from her coma. He finally decides to train for the 1954 Boston Marathon in hopes of winning because it would be nothing short of a miracle.
Now you might be thinking this movie is all sap, but I beg to differ. Ralph isn’t exactly the star pupil at the parochial school he attends. Most of his time seems to be spent talking to Father Fitzpatrick about the latest shenanigan he’s been caught committing. Little-known actor Adam Butcher does amazingly well in this role being emotional and intense at the same time. Even though Ralph finds himself in funny situations, he himself isn’t really a funny character.
Ralph’s sidekick, Chester, is played by Michael Kanev. You’ll probably also recognize Jennifer Tilly who plays Ralph’s mother’s nurse. You might also recognize Campbell Scott, from The Exorcism of Emily Rose, who plays Ralph’s teacher, friend, and coach - Father Hibbert. While I would have to say this film is a bit moving, it’s in no way sappy or cheesy. It kind of reminded me a bit of Goodbye Lenin!, but they’re not really similar movies. The only thing tying them together would be a boy looking out for his mother.
One thing I didn’t really think about was this movie is also about running. The writer/director brought it up in the “making of” bit on the extra features. I have seen a couple other movies that were about running and I found them completely uninteresting. I think this was because I’m not a runner. In the same way that Iron Man rocked the house because Jon Favreau directed it and it was a great movie about a comic book hero, Saint Ralph is a great movie about a boy coming of age, taking care of his sick mother, and he just happens to run a marathon.
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