Deliver Us From Evil
Even though it’s produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, the real author of “Deliver Us From Evil” is, in fact, the co-writer and director, Scott Derrickson. That may seem odd to have to clarify, because a writer’s credit signifies authorship, whether you believe in the auteur theory or not, but Bruckheimer is such a huge influence over the film’s he makes, it bears mentioning. Considering the film’s supernatural nature, Derrickson (who previously made “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” and “Sinister”) is much more suited to the material than Bruckheimer, although the police procedural genre that structures the film is right up the “CSI” producer’s alley.
The film stars Eric Bana as Ralph Sarchie, an NYPD officer who seems to have a sixth sense about violent crimes being committed. His partner (Butler, played by Joel McHale, who has great chemistry and is rock-solid in a non-comedic role) calls it his “radar.” That radar leads them to a domestic disturbance call where a husband has beaten his wife. The pair gets there, and the husband (a former soldier who was deployed in Iraq) is ruthless and gets away from the cops. He seems to be on drugs, but when Sarchie and Butler go on another call later, where a mother throws her baby into a ravine in a zoo, they start to find themselves into something a little more sinister. A chance encounter with a priest (Mendoza, played by Édgar RamÃrez) will be important when Sarchie, a lapsed Catholic, starts to see religious undertones in the case.
All you have to do in look at “Exorcism of Emily Rose” to see how important religious themes are to Derrickson, although there’s also a strong connection to the spiritual in “Sinister,” as well. Of course, the supernatural also plays a big role in those films, and “Deliver Us From Evil” continues to prove that Derrickson is a smart, visually interesting filmmaker who has a lot to say in genre movies, whether or not the end result is something worth seeing or not (he also directed the remake of “The Day the Earth Stood Still”). The film feels too much like “Se7en” with it’s grim, rain-drenched mood and penchant for police thriller cliches to really feel like it can stand on it’s own. That said, because of Derrickson’s continuing intrigue in this subject matter, and because of performances by Bana, Ramirez, McHale, and Olivia Munn as Bana’s wife that draw us in to this story, “Deliver Us From Evil” makes for an entertaining piece of genre filmmaking during the hot summer season.
