The Exorcism of Emily Rose **1/2
Cast: Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson, Campbell Scott, Jennifer Carpenter, Colm Feore, Mary Beth Hurt, Shohreh Aghdashloo
Director: Scott Derrickson
Running Length: 1:53
MPAA Classification: PG-13

Father Moore (Wilkinson) is going on trial for the murder of Emily Rose (Carpenter). He has been charged with "negligent homicide", and the Roman Catholic Church has hired Erin Bruner (Linney) to represent him. The Church would prefer a plea bargain, but Father Moore does not feel he has done anything wrong. He just wants Emily's story to be told, and he is willing to take the stand to make that happen.

"Emily Rose" is a courtroom drama first and foremost. The scenes of Emily and her exorcism are all told through flashback as the trial progresses. In addition to the flashbacks showing Emily's story, we also get a helping of Bruner's dealings with strange things that go bump in the night. As father Moore tells her, there forces about that do not want Emily's story to be told.

All that being said, "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" could have been a better movie. The acting is top notch. Wilkinson, Linney, and Scott are all bringing their A game, but something in the screenplay just does not work. Maybe it is the disjointedness that comes with flashbacks. Maybe it is the supernatural events surrounding Linney's character. It most assuredly is the PG-13 rating that this movie has. Once again, what should be an R rated film has been tamed down to attract the younger audience. And so, we get an exorcism that just missed being truly scary.

This is not a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination. It just falls short in enough areas that I have to recommend waiting for DVD. And if you need an exorcism fix right now, go rent "The Exorcist". It is far superior and still creepy today.