In an age where questions have emerged related to adequately maintaining a firewall between church and state, increasing numbers of controversies have arisen that threaten to undermine the sanctity of this basic principle of American civics. And those hot-button controversies are now brought front and center in writer-director Michael Ricigliano's debut feature, a morality play that tackles one of these issues head on. When a progressive Democratic governor of New York (Ana Ortiz) signs into law a bill guaranteeing same-sex marriage and vows to do the same for legislation allowing for late-term abortions, the devoutly Catholic head of state comes under heavy, morality-based pressure from the bishop of her Brooklyn diocese (Harry Lennix). He threatens to excommunicate her for her actions, allegedly blasphemous deeds that he contends violate fundamental Roman Catholic teachings. On top of this, the fallout from the cleric's decision stands to undermine the Governor's presidential aspirations, a venture for which she has been enjoying generally solid support. The bishop's dictate also upsets his ecclesiastical peers, such as the cardinal from his diocese (Dan Grimaldi) and his superiors in Rome, who see it as an extreme measure that promises to further weaken the declining standing of the Church with a public increasingly in favor of greater liberalization and reform. But, on an even bigger scale, this debate raises questions related to where the influence of a religious leader should end when it comes to the part he plays in attempting to dictate public policy, specifically where his word impacts the decision-making process of officials like the Governor. At the same time, though, it also raises questions for the Governor in matters of following her conscience vs. Serving the needs and wants of the people: At what point should she allow or deny her personal convictions to play a part in making policy? These are among the heady issues raised in this thoughtful political drama, matters that are addressed intelligently and from a variety of angles, giving viewers much to ponder and for which there are no easy answers, the underlying principle of separation of church and state notwithstanding. Indeed, things may not be as cut and dried as most of us might automatically assume. However, while the presentation of these questions is certainly commendable, their execution here at times comes across as somewhat overlong and stagey, material perhaps better suited to Broadway than the silver screen. In some respects, this treatment makes these arguments come across more like a late night college dorm lounge discussion than convincing and engaging cinematic drama, admirable though the content of these dialogues might be. This is not to suggest that these conversations are without merit, but some may consider them stilted and a tad dry. The filmmaker's decision to set this story in a specific time period - 2012 and the years that follow - is rather problematic, too, given that this time frame already has its own established history and that this narrative would seem to rewrite the documented happenings of that period, an issue that could have been resolved simply by not grounding this story in a specific timeline. Still, these drawbacks aside, "Godless" nevertheless gives us much to think about that should not be dismissed casually, especially in a time when maintaining the firewall is essential to the fates of both church and state going forward - and where we can draw an acceptable line that suits everyone on both fronts.
