When New York's Roman Catholic Archbishop condemned Priest as "an abomination as viciously anti-Catholic as anything that has rotted on the silver screen", little did he realise that he was giving this low-budget British film the kind of publicity the producers would never be able to afford. To be sure, this is not exactly a remake of Going My Way or The Bells Of St Marys. As written by Jimmy McGovern, Father Greg Pilkington is very much a product of the New Age: he's young, handsome, fashionably liberal and idealistic, and gay. But, as is often the case with a cleric with too much heaven on his mind, life's harsh ironies have little respect for blind faith. For while the local bishop preaches politics from the pulpit and the senior priest thinks nothing of a furtive roll in the sack with his black house-keeper, it is the hapless, guilt-ridden Greg who is publicly pilloried when his nocturnal sexual liasons with a local boy are revealed. In the best traditions of calculated melodrama, noble sentiment does win out in the end. With one eye on the box-office and one hand down their respective trousers, writer McGovern and director Antonia Bird know the value of a good sex scene and the four on view here, particularly the ones featuring Father Greg and his lover, all too readily reveal where the film's priorities really lie. That said, the film is never less than engaging and the attractive Linus Roache, whether dressed or undressed, is well cast in the title role.
