Despite every awful review this movie has received -including Roger Ebert ominous one as "the worst movie of 1988"- I loved it when it was first released and I still enjoy it.The plot may be faulty, but the atmosphere is great and the music by Bruce Broughton is -as expected-very good.For me -and many of my(according to what Mr.Ebert could think on this subject) "tasteless" friends, it still remains a cult film to be enjoyed again once in a while. The naivete of Michael (Tom Berenger) the priest has credibility in terms of his position in his family. The "finale" with his last phrase and the entrance of his sister Zena (Anne Twomey)and the very last scene at the car with her are simply terrific and impossible to forget no mater how many years have passed.

This movie is fun. When the voluptuous horny girl gazes ravenously at the half-clothed Tom Berenger in his chaste, priestly bedroom, he tells her "I can't touch you, I'm a priest." But he doesn't seem to be convincing himself and he certainly isn't convincing her.The movie doesn't take itself seriously, and the story line is insanely convoluted, but if you can't quite make sense of it all, it's still fun. It's bloody and violent and sexy and funny.We have betrayal and passion and incestuous jealousy and Mafia loyalties and hookers and an old priest whose stuttering is miraculously cured upon finding the aforementioned voluptuous girl naked in the priests' shower. I think this is about the most fun you can have with a popcorn bowl in your lap. Highly recommended as a chick flick, but I can understand that anybody who doesn't find a half-naked Tom Berenger sexy might not like the movie.If you're looking for a heart-stopping thriller-mystery, this ain't it. If you want a good chick-flick drama with a little adultery and a few cold-blooded murders and a totally-unexpected-yet-strangely-satisfying-and-unsettling ending, I recommend Last Rites.

So we have this priest, son of the mafia, who gets involved with this chick. I wasn't very hopeful on this, but it was the best offer TV could do that day. Not only we have Tom Berenger in top form, the film features Daphne Zuniga (why I had never heard of her before?), and Adrian Paul, way younger and before he put on the Highlander clothes, and in a small role. The plot is excellent, the performances are great and what to say? GO WATCH IT!

This flick is full of surprises, from beginning to end. Colorful location shots. Extremely sensual. Good plot. Better-than-average dialog. Excellent acting, directing, photography, editing. A real story, not just a movie created to show what some computer whiz kid can do with special effects.LAST RITES is a hard movie to find in the rental stores, but well worth the effort. Apparently some group (!) has tried to keep it off the shelves because of the content. Don't let someone censor your viewing--rent or buy this movie and judge for yourself.