'Saint Ralph': A feel-good film with wry sense of humor

Be sure to choose a movie theater with strong air conditioning, because Saint Ralph is a definite heartwarmer.

Fourteen-year-old Ralph Walker, the hero of this inspirational comedy, is no saint. A thorn in the side of Father Fitzpatrick, the headmaster of a Catholic high school in Hamilton, Ontario, in the early 1950s, Ralph has been known to sneak an occasional cigarette and otherwise challenge authority. Fortunately, he has discovered the confession booth, where he regularly goes to be absolved of taking the lord's name in vain and having impure thoughts.

Samuel Goldwyn Films 'Saint Ralph' B The verdict: A gentle period comedy about a teen marathon runner, good enough to go the distance. Director: Michael McGowan Starring: Adam Butcher, Campbell Scott, Shauna MacDonald, Gordon Pinsent, Michael Kanev Run time: 98 minutes Release date: August 5, 2005 Rating: PG-13 for some sexual content and partial nudity. On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime [an error occurred while processing this directive]

When those thoughts lead to self-abuse in the community swimming pool, though, Fitzpatrick decrees that he join the school's track team, presumably to tire him out and sap his teenage energies. But it is there, under the coaching of Father Hibbert, a young, liberal priest and former runner, that Ralph finds a mission.

Ralph's critically ill mother has been hospitalized, you see, and a doctor cavalierly notes that it would take a miracle for her to survive. At about the same time, Ralph gets it in his head that he wants to run the Boston Marathon, and is told that it would be a miracle if he won.

Boing!

So Ralph dedicates himself to training for the arduous, urban long-distance race as a way to save his mother's life. It sort of makes sense in the logic of Catholic doctrine, as filtered through the head of a youngster not used to taking "no" for an answer. Miracles can and do happen, Ralph is taught, but they require faith, purity and prayer, all initially beyond the boy's reach.

Much of the movie is spent on Ralph's training regimen, as he bonds with Hibbert and defies Fitzpatrick, who tries to prevent the boy from even entering the marathon. Saint Ralph is a slightly subversive feel-good film, not quite willing to give in to the cliches of an against-all-odds Rocky movie, but nor is it dark enough that Ralph's mom's life is ever really in danger.

Canadian former marathon runner Michael McGowan (My Dog Vincent) wrote and directed this period film, with a been-there sense of repressive parochial school. While clearly working with a tiny budget — it never actually goes to Boston for the climactic race sequence — the movie shows McGowan's eye for details and his wry sense of humor.

He is helped considerably by the casting of relative newcomer Adam Butcher in the title role. Precocious and determined, the actor easily wins audience empathy and gets us rooting for his improbable goal. Campbell Scott lends caring, soft-spoken support as Hibbert, a worthy contrast to Gordon Pinsent's slow-burning fuse, Fitzpatrick. Jennifer Tilly shows up as a nurturing nurse who befriends Ralph on his hospital visits and Tamara Hope is his unattainable classmate, on whom he has a major crush.

Although you have to worry for a small, gentle movie like this going out into the market in the middle of the summer, it just might muster the audience it deserves. In the film industry, that is the definition of a miracle.