A worldly ambitious monsignor clashes with his older brother, a cynical Los Angeles homicide detective who is investigating the brutal murder of a young prostitute.
De Niro (a Catholic Priest) and Duvall (a Homicide Detective) play brothers drawn together after many years apart, in the aftermath of the brutal murder of a young prostitute.—Grant Hamilton <[email protected]>
In 1948 Monsignor Desmond Spellacy, a judicious, ambitious monsignor working at the behest of the worldly Cardinal Danaher, is deeply involved in church-sponsored real estate development projects, all of which are very profitable for the local Catholic diocese. He has an edgy, uneasy relationship with his gritty, quick-tempered older brother, Detective Tom Spellacy of the LAPD, a one time bag man for corrupt builder Jack Amsterdam. Despite his murky past and iconoclastic temperament, the homicide detective has a strong sense of honor and resents the hypocrisy of Amsterdam and other members of the establishment. The brothers' paths cross when Tom covers up the death of a prominent Catholic priest in a local brothel run by madam Brenda Samuels, who has history with both the detective and Amesterdam. Tom's path again crosses his brother's when he investigates the gruesome homicide of a young prostitute whose body has been cut in half and thrown in a deserted lot. Circumstances cause both brothers to have crises of conscience as each tries to attain redemption and regain self-esteem.—duke1029
It's the late 1940s. Brothers Des Spellacy and Tom Spellacy are a Catholic monsignor in the Los Angeles diocese and a LAPD homicide detective respectively. While they do get along, they spend little time together as they live their own lives. Tom has not led a totally clean life, being on the take, and once having been involved with a madam named Brenda Samuels. And while Des, in his ambition, is slowly rising through the ranks of the Catholic church - his prudent financial management of the diocese's infrastructure projects impressing Cardinal Danaher - Des can only admit to himself that he may not be the best for a person in his position if only for never having had "the calling". Their lives are brought closer together with two cases that pass through Tom's desk. The first is the death of one of Des' colleagues, a parish priest, and although the death looks to be from natural causes, it is in an unsavory situation. The second is of a young woman named Lois Fazenda, coined by the media as "the Virgin Tramp" in both being a prostitute and a Catholic. As the cases may bring the brothers ultimately at odds with each other, it also highlights the the true nature of each where things are not always black or white.—Huggo
