Noëlle

A surly young priest (writer-director David Wall, a dead ringer for the young Robert Redford) comes to a dwindling parish on Cape Cod to close down the church, but in spite of himself, he becomes involved in the lives of the locals—even as he wrestles with his own crisis of faith. There’s an air of sincere piety to the film—produced on a shoestring with a largely non-professional cast, some pitching in behind the camera—that makes one hesitate to criticize, but it’s simply not very good. Wall’s dialogue is a seemingly endless stream of clichés, unconnected platitudes, and clumsy symbolism, and his inexperienced cast is understandably awkward in trying to make their drably stilted lines sound like normal conversation. Cinematographer Beecher Cotton gives the Cape Cod snowscapes an unearthly glow.