the dog

It's possible that he killed the dog; but it is not certain one way or another. Thus far, his ire had been directed at the Church, whereas killing the dog appeared to be personal. He is probably the most logical suspect, but not the only one. I figure it was either the Daughter or the murderer-maybe both working together. Ill have to see it again.

The bartender would have made no sense; and even after the incident at the pub it would have been a stretch.

Is this a joke, or is there some explanation for why she would have done it?

I'm English,and if there's anything more deplorable than our cooking,it's our lovemaking

The truth is that the movie never gives an answer. Your solution does make more sense to me than any other.

This.

Thats what the whole point of the ending with the daughter was. He was all she had left in the world, and the only thing that was keeping her together, and he took him away because of what some other priests had done. The final scene is about Jack being confronted with what he had done and not being able to escape from the reality of it.

It's all a metaphor for the way the world is responding to religion. There was some heinous *beep* done back in the day (the missions were mentioned at one point by Simon) and there was some heinous *beep* done recently. Then theres the fact the its all a bit ridiculous. That isn't what matters tho. What matters is the people who needed it.

If Freddie (the serial killer) really just needed to be understood and if he had found religion he might not have acted out the way he did.

The writer didn't seem to have anyone who cared about it him at all and was obviously afraid of dying.

Veronica needed a moral center.

Theresa needed comfort.

Milo needed...to get laid...Im still thinking about that one.

Michael desperately needed love.

Frank needed an outlet for the terrible things he had seen.

After Jack killed Father James we see every single one of them (and probably more that I can't remember) either suffering or following through with their sins. This is the reality of a world without Father James. Then we see Jack dealing with this reality.

At least thats how I saw it. Great film tho.

Totally agree. He lied about not killing the dog, and appeared to take some enjoyment out of the fact that the priest cried over the dog's death.

You're right. I thought it was obvious too. He's a liar but he can't help asking about how it affected him.

"The flip side of that is that all of us are called to be channels of grace and mercy to each other. All of us can prop each other up. Even a good priest needs propping up."

Beautifully said. I think this is the point most people are missing with their assessment of this movie. This community of people were spiritually diminished (and I don't necessarily mean religious wise). There were a lot of unhappy and lonely people who didn't try to prop up others. They were too busy waiting to be propped up themselves.

But the movie did tell us who burned down the church. The killer didn't contradict the priest when he accused him of it. That's as good as a confession in those circumstances

Thank you for this post.

Thank you for this post.

I seem to remember that Jack could be a brutal man with his wife, and the dog had been brutally killed. Looks like Jack was giving James a little grisly "help" in winding up his affairs. The barman seemed angry too, but not like Jack.

Poor Bruno. I know he was old but still.

It may have been a further cry for attention, though I may have missed why Kelly's character tried to commit suicide beforehand..

Did she resent her father's religious commitment, over family?


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