Please don't spend money on this.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Blistering performances.

Strange but true! On a cold cloudy March Saturday morning in 1974 I went to work for my Dad at his Boiler and heating company in Ozone Park,New York. My father acting as a General in the military, barking out the orders had about 12 men in his employ and sent them out to various locations throughout the New York metropolitan vicinity. I was sent with a crew of four to Jamaica, Queens to erect a brick wall to separate the newly added boiler room in a textile company. When I arrived at the factory, there were palates filled with cement bags and cinder blocks as far as the eyes can see. All day long I was mixing concrete and lifting blocks. When the long day was over I came home sore and tired. Put on the Television and saw a Black man arguing with a group of Nuns in the American southwest. Noticed the same cement cinder blocks and; well; my attention was held for the next 90 minutes. Sidney Poitier plays an unemployed heavy equipment operator Homer Smith who's station wagon just happens to overheat at the out-of-the way convent. Mother Maria (Lilia Skala) claims that Homer Smith or as she calls him "Schmidt" was brought here by divine intervention. She pesters him to all ends with demands on building a new house of worship. Smith gives in and agrees to build a chapel. I could feel his solitude and pain in that hot desert sun carrying bricks and mortar. The Arayaan Sisters in her Black Habits and poor Smith taking the complaining all day made this movie so plausible. Great supporting role by Stanley Adams as the philosophical cafe owner Juan. Mr. Ashton (Ralph Nelson) who currently employs Smith is amazed by the teamwork and moral obligations by the local people,(Mainly of Mexican decent), of this area give what they can in order to help Smith build with Bricks, wood, and in time a chapel sprouts up among the desert sands for all to see. Our heavy set cafe owner goes on."A place where children can receive the sacraments.For these men, for their children to have faith, it is important.To me it is insurance. To me life is here on Earth. I cannot see further. But, if there right about the hereafter. I've paid my insurance." You watch a chapel being built. First by the lonely Smith and little by little everyone joins in. Love the evening English lessons Smith gives the European sisters and rewards them with lollipops. The AMEN song is infectious and pleasing to the ear. Just a good feeling for a passerby in a station wagon who makes a difference in this small remote region of America. I give this one 7 church bells. AMEN!

If you're feeling down, here's a movie to boost your spirits. If you're a Christian of any kind, that's good too as it affirms your faith. If you're NOT a Christian, it can reaffirm your faith in humanity in general.Simplistic, yup, sure is but it's got some very serious messages not the least of which is, Do unto others as you would have done unto you.You can even be an atheist and get that message. Helping others not only makes you feel good, it HELPS OTHERS. That's I believe the basic message of this movie. I don't believe for a second there are any hidden agendas or overblown stereotypes and I feel anyone looking that deeply into the movie has some deeply buried issues to deal with.It's about faith, hope, love and helping, that's it. Anyone who walks away from this movie with a gripe or some overblown analysis should get some analysis him/herself. It's not a big movie, it's a NICE movie and Sydney Poitier, one of the finest actors ever to grace film, does a superb low key job playing Homer Smith. He doesn't WANT to help, he's compelled to help by forces he doesn't seem to want to give into, yet, he does and feels so much reward for it.Do you want to see a movie with a positive message in which no one gets blown up and no one chases anyone in a car? Do you want to see a movie that makes you feel good, makes you think, "Gee, I wonder who I can help"? See this movie. It's dated, but who gives a damn? It's a great, little movie with a great BIG message.

Beautiful movie with such clever overtones. There is an art about this movie you don't see anymore in the ham-fisted movies of today. Thoroughly enjoyable. Pointer and the Mother Superior actress turn in excellent performances for which Pointer won an Oscar. Well deserved, but I thought the Mother Superior actress deserved one too. The supporting roles of nuns, a restaurant owner and tired priest are very well done. Touches of humor are balanced with earnestness in the script. The story is simple: a group of 6 nuns has traveled to America to build a chapel in the barren West. They have little but a tract of land, a ruin, a "motherhouse" and faith, but it all works.

This is a very pleasant movie. It's not a masterpiece. There have been better movies; there have been funnier comedies; there have been more dramatic dramas; there have been deeper explorations of spiritual issues. But this is a very pleasant movie to watch - and even fun at times.This is Sidney Poitier's movie. He plays Homer Smith - a mysterious drifter whose past we never do learn very much about who appears at a farm needing water for the radiator in his car. The farm turns out to be occupied by a group of nuns who've recently come to the United States from Germany and who basically draft Homer to build them a chapel. The movie basically portrays the growing relationship between the nuns and Homer. Homer resents the work he's being asked to do but somehow is unable to pull away. The nuns see Homer as an answer to their prayers for someone who could help them in this task. It's good fun watching Homer teach the nuns how to speak English and how to sing some of the gospel songs he learned in his Baptist upbringing. As I said, this is Poitier's movie and he was superb in it. The supporting cast was fine, but not high profile. The only one I recognized was Stanley Adams from a Star Trek episode a few years later. This might be a little bit over-rated, but still it doesn't disappoint. Again - it's a very pleasant movie to watch. (6/10)