Opus of an Angel suggests there is light at the end of the tunnel—and who doesn’t need to be reminded of that? The movie is about a successful cardiac surgeon, Dr. Stephen Murphy (William McNamara), who once had everything one could hope for: a loving spouse, a daughter, a successful career, and a nice home. But the movie shows us a very different man when it opens. When he gets up in the morning, he glances over at a noose he has placed above a chair. It is obvious he has considered committing suicide. But why? He heads out the door, and we know there is much more that will be revealed.
In helping others, we find a purpose in life, a reason to go on after tragedy. This is what happens when Stephen finds a blind girl named Maria, who is seen on a street calling for her field trip group, but the group has apparently left her. She taps along with her cane, and Stephen comes to her rescue, determined to help her find her group. Several phone calls to her home plus his efforts in finding the group don’t pan out, so he continues to hang with Maria and to talk with her. We learn when Stephen drops by a business to withdraw his life savings, which is a large amount of money, in addition to his wife’s wedding ring, that something happened to both his wife and daughter. He loses the ring, but a woman at the business finds it on the floor. She wrestles with whether or not she should give it back. She learns through an appraisal it is worth a lot of money. But she does return it, and he rewards her with a generous cash gift. A nice point is illustrated that the good we do does come back to us, and sometimes immediately.
Stephen forms a bond with Maria, nicely played by Cindy Pickett. He asks the library for a Braille book so she can read. There is something different and special about Maria which we learn at the conclusion of the film. This is a wonderful story of faith, and the Catholic nun that helped Stephen years before, when he attended the school, listens to him when he vents his frustrations. In a profound statement, she tells him, “Don’t let the darkness cloud your soul.” Encouragement does come his way by film’s end, and he needs it; he’s been through a lot. Regrettably, there is a lot of strong language in the film, with multiple uses of the F-word, not to mention a possible GD. So we are unable to present it our Dove Seal. The story, without the language, is a good one.
