The Rite comes off as an Exorcist knockoff in the trailer, complete with creepy images, scary makeup and star Anthony Hopkins flashing his best demonic look — which, incidentally, is quite good. But is it enough to make this movie worthwhile?

God, no.

The Rite is about a young priest named Michael Kovak (Colin O'Donoghue) who has daddy issues and leaves the family mortuary in search of something else. He finds his path in the seminary, only to have his lack of faith keep turning up "like an ex girlfriend," he says. As a solution, one of the priests tells Kovak to see Father Lucas (Hopkins) for help on exorcisms. Once there, Kovak isn't sold on the practice until things really start hitting close to home. In the end, he must find his faith before something really bad happens.

There's a certain cultural fascination with exorcisms. It's something that can't be proven, only believed in, leaving the events to be heatedly debated. There are some good movies about exorcisms, including The Exorcist, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and even last year's The Last Exorcism, all of which had a fresh spin on the story. Sadly, The Rite isn't one of these. It seems to be the same old story, just with Hopkins lighting up the celluloid. Sadly, a fresh coat of paint on the same old wall just isn't enough to keep my interest for two hours.

This article appears in Jan 27 – Feb 2, 2011.