Home > Thriller >

The Ministers

The Ministers (2009)

October. 16,2009
|
4.4
|
R
| Thriller Crime

A NYPD detective attempts to avenge the death of her father, but unwittingly becomes involved with one of his killers.

...

Watch Trailer

Cast

Reviews

FeistyUpper
2009/10/16

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

More
Listonixio
2009/10/17

Fresh and Exciting

More
Suman Roberson
2009/10/18

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

More
Casey Duggan
2009/10/19

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

More
Claudio Carvalho
2009/10/20

In New York, Detective Alberto Santana (Benny Nieves) comes with his partner Joseph Bruno (Harvey Keitel) to meet his wife Gina and his daughter Celeste (Gabriella Fanuele) to celebrate her eighteenth birthday. Out of the blue, Alberto is shot in his head on the sidewalk by a man wearing a hood that delivers a religious message from the Lord. Many years later, Celeste (Florencia Lozano) is a detective of the New York Police Department and partner of Joe Bruno. When the crooks Alden and Jeff Kane, who had torched their buildings to receive the insurance, are released from prison, they are executed by two criminals in the same modus operandi of detective Santana, and the police department concludes that they are the same killers. Lieutenant Diaz (Wanda de Jesus) assigns Detective Manso (Manny Perez) and Detective Demarco (Saul Stein) from narcotics to investigate the case, for the deception of Celeste. Then the drug dealer Chino and his gang are executed in Manhattan's Lower East Side by the killers Dante and his deformed and deranged twin brother Perfecto (John Leguizamo), and Lieutenant Diaz teams up Joe and Celeste with Manso and Demarco. Meanwhile, Dante meets Celeste in the church and they date first and have a love affair. When Perfecto decides to kill Joe, Dante argues with him but the dysfunctional brother does not listen to him."The Ministers" is a film with a good police story ruined by a messy screenplay and a melodramatic direction that transforms a gloomy story with great potential in a soap opera. John Leguizamo and Harvey Keitel have reasonable performances, but Florencia Lozano does not convince as a detective and does not show any chemistry with John Leguizamo. This film really deserved Abel Ferrara in the direction. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "Justiceiros de Deus" ("Vigilantes of God")

More
Elswet
2009/10/21

This one is hard to watch. The serious tone of the story line, the edgy dual performance by John Leguizamo, and the dark Christian perspective will not win this work any fans in the Bible-Belt, for sure, but they also factor into the equation of elements adding together to make the viewer cringe and pull back not only from the story, but from the characters. By the time you decide whose side you're on, the movie is over and you're left feeling empty and incomplete from the experience. This is, without a doubt, John Leguizamo's "the Libertine," in that it may well be his best performance ever, and maybe 12 people will see it. I cannot say this film is fabulous, but I will say that John Leguizamo purely shines, so if you're a fan of his work, do yourself a favor and redbox this (at least), but if not, you may want to try "What's the Worst that Could Happen?" instead, wherein he costars with Martin Lawrence and Danny DiVito.All in all? This is one of those dark obscure pools of goodness whose appreciation calls for a genre-fan, or a fan of the principal actor, to really enjoy the work. Otherwise, you may be disappointed.I love John Leguizamo, so for me, it rates a 7.6/10 from...the Fiend :.

More
masakiuma
2009/10/22

A New York City detective (Celeste - Florencia Lozano) searches for "the ministers," who murdered her father in front of her years ago, and who are still killing. She unwittingly becomes involved with one of the killers (Dante - John Leguizamo).I came into this movie with low expectations. Nearly every review I saw of it made it look pretty bad, but I will watch pretty much any movie regardless of what the reviewers say. Unfortunately, I ended up having to agree with those reviews.The acting in this movie just felt really awkward most of the time. Every time Harvey Keitel was on screen it seemed like they just shoved him in front of the camera and threw lines at him without ever letting him see a script. The one scene I'm talking about in particular is when he is crying and begging Celeste to not go...man, it was just embarrassing to watch. John Leguizamo was decent most of the time, but at other times it seemed like he was just goofing around.The storyline was cluttered and confusing. It really felt like the movie was trying to be a mash-up of Boondock Saints, Se7en, and other crime movies that involve religion. There were too many things going on at once, and none of the elements ended up working.The ending was HORRIBLE!! I know they were -trying- to be dramatic with it but it just came off seeming un-needed, forced, and cheap. Even if the rest of the movie was passable, the end simply destroys it.Overall it was an -okay- movie until the ending completely demolishes it.Final Score - 3/10

More
vilj-1
2009/10/23

When one watches a Frank Reyes film, one knows the movie will be entertaining and there will be plenty of action. Reyes is a disciple of John Singleton. One watches his films for entertainment and for escapism, nothing more. Thirteen years after her father was slain, and now a New York City homicide detective, she (the lead actress) sets out to discover the truth behind the gruesome murder. The movie has a kind of religious theme and is a psychological thriller with a nice arc from start to finish. Great acting from John Leguizamo, Harvey Keitel and Wanda De Jesus, who is a "regular" from Reyes films. Don't analyze every frame, just take it for what it is and sit back and enjoy the film.

More