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Farmiga's Directorial Debut Marks 'High' Point in Career

Academy voters will be rapt upon viewing "Higher Ground," a finding-God-in-the-suburbs tale that doesn't dissolve its characters into parody. It'll be a boon to the "underground" but powerful faith-based, film-going audience that made "Passion of the Christ" a hit. And it will do wonders for Vera Farmiga's already impressive resume.

Farmiga effortlessly slips on the director's cap for this tiny movie with a big heart. She also commands the lively, fantastic cast of lesser-knowns as Corrine, a woman who long orbited around the evangelical Christian church but had always struggled with fully embracing it.

As a youngster, Corrine accepts Jesus into her life, at the behest of the perpetually smiling pastor Bill (Norbert Leo Butz). As though on a waking fawn's legs, she sputters into the faith. Chided by her younger sister, Wendy, Corrine all but abandons it as a teen when she falls for the dreamy musician Ethan.

It's rock 'n' roll that saves both their souls. Years later, after they marry and give birth to their first daughter, Ethan's band's van crashes into a lake, leaving the couple scrambling to find their baby girl. They all survive, so Corrine and Ethan, in an epiphanic moment, devote their lives to God.

Once Corrine matures into the ethereal Farmiga, that's when "Higher Ground" really reaches its apex. She was born for this born-again role, never fumbling into caricature. She radiates with a solemn calmness, wrestling with remaining a faithful woman and feeding her primal wants. (She has eyes for a friendly poet/postal worker played by swoon-worthy Sean Mahon.) She turns talking to oneself in a mirror into a gripping battle of wills.

Farmiga is the rock on which "Higher Ground" leans, but all the participants bring this indie to life. Adult Wendy (Nina Arianda) fully embraces the godlessness of the 1970s and provides a jaunty yin to her sister's docile yang. Joshua Leonard as Ethan is transfixing. So rarely do we see onscreen a depiction of a man of God who actually sticks to his plan. It isn't easy for the former rocker, but his resolve is admirable. When he and Corrine hit a communication wall, he has an outburst, but ultimately takes the blame for the skirmish.

Also dazzling is the spirited Dagmara Dominczyk as Corrine's closest confidant, Annika. Here's a real, vital Christian woman who welcomes into her life religion and sexuality equally. Bible verses are as much of a godsend to her as is flaunting her husband's penis in her artwork. She's scintillating to watch.

The script was penned by Carolyn Briggs, author of the memoir upon which "Higher Ground" is based. The film is less spiritually radical than Briggs' true story, but it still skillfully and sensitively frames the struggles of Corrine, Ethan and nearly any evangelical in the modern world. Coupled with Farmiga's bucolic directing, this movie could very well be a dark-horse nominee at the Oscars next year.

One doesn't have to be a Christian or even remotely religious to appreciate the beauty of "Higher Ground." Beyond the scripture and sanctity, it is a gorgeous story of family and faith in oneself, above all.

"Higher Ground." Rated: R. Running time: 1 hours, 49 minutes. 3.5 stars.

To find out more about Melissa Bobbitt and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.