By Forris Day Jr.
We live in a world full of diet fads and exercise gadgets, where people are constantly assaulted with dozens of ways to lose weight. Some people make it their mission to stay thin, while others are content to remain overweight, living on a steady diet of crummy, high calorie food and sugar filled drinks. Many people, particularly us Americans, have either given up or died of heart attacks and strokes. OK…maybe I’m getting a little too heavy here (Pun intended).
The comedy, St. Roz addresses the issue of weight loss and asks the question “What if weight loss could be achieved by doing nothing more than lighting a candle in church”. The tagline for the movie is “Light a candle, lose a pound”. Interesting concept. When a crated statue shows up mysteriously on the front door of a poor dilapidated church, the priest is happily surprised. Pleased with the gift, Father Culkowski (Michael Lamport) jubilantly puts the large statue in the front of the church for all to see. It is soon discovered to have a inexplicable power by a young woman, Judy Gold (Rachel Wilson). She finds out that if you light a candle and ask the statue for weight loss, you will lose a pound for each candle you light. As word spreads around the world, the church starts making lots of money as overweight women come to give their dollar. This is good…right? For the church, yes. For other churches and all the health clubs in the area, no. What will become of the church? What will happen to all those ladies that make the pilgrimage to pray, now that the statue has a price on its head? Find out by watching St. Roz.
It’s a pleasant story with fun sub-plots. Some very talented actors and actresses, including Victoria Snow as Judy’s Mom and health club empire owner, Minnie Barr. Jayne Eastwood plays the very funny role of church-lady extraordinaire, “Mrs. P”. Sarah Allen is great as Cathy, the fat girl gone thin and sexy, who actually stumbles upon the statue’s secret, and shares it with Judy. David Fox is also pretty comical as the Cardinal who is in charge of controlling the mayhem started by the Mother Mary statue. A decent comedy, with a solid cast who know what they are doing. I recommend this film to anyone who is just looking to relax and watch a fun movie.
Rating: 7/10 – “Lighthearted fun”
