What do you get when you mix two good actors, a semi-decent one, a good message, and lousy plot and direction? Stigmata. In this adequate possession tale, Patricia Arquette (the semi-decent) portrays a hairstylist/party animal who begins to get the wounds of Christ for no apparent reason. Gabriel Byrne is the priest sent by the Vatican to investigate, and soon he begins to (*gasp*) question his faith. When Arquette starts speaking in tongues, the message she conveys is one about personal faith, and the lack of need for physical churches, which of course, does not sit well with the powers-that-be in the Vatican. Jonathan Pryce (playing the villian well) decides that the message is too damaging to live... If you're in the mood for a religious message, watch Dogma. It's much better written, and it's a lot more fun. Don't waste your time on this. It's not horrible, but it's also not anything it should be.

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