Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Good movie but grossly overrated

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

I didn't realize at first how long ago this documentary was initially released. It was interesting, but what really surprised me was to find out that Mother Delores' fiancé never moved on and kept in touch all those years. What really saddened me, however, was to read one of the news articles connected with this film and find out that he passed away before it was released. It makes the scene of their visit in the film, especially when her eyes watered, that much more poignant.

"God Is the Bigger Elvis" is a 36-minute documentary movie from 2012, so this one has its 5th anniversary this year. The director is Rebecca Cammisa and her effort here secured her the second Oscar nomination of her career. The film lost out to "Saving Face" and I believe the reason is because "Saving Face" has more contemporary and political relevance. Bit this does not mean GitBE is a bad film by any means. i think it is fairly enjoyable to watch. This is the story of Dolores Hart, a Hollywood actress in the second half of the 1950s and in the first half of the 1960s and she was actually fairly famous back then. She played lead roles, starred next to the likes of Montgomery Clift and played in several films with Elvis Presley as the title gives away. But then she decided to end her career and become a nun. And that's what she is apparently until today and looking at this slightly over half an hour here, it does not seem she ever regretted it. Or regretted her Hollywood years. She sounds fairly happy I would say having lived the life she wanted. And she still does today in 2017. Yes maybe the film is missing really something to make an impact on the audiences unless you count the references to God, but this sure is no Christian recruitment video or anything. It is a simple story about one woman who managed to make a difference in the most different professions you can think of. Maybe not Oscar-worthy or for general audiences, but worth checking out for documentary lovers. I give it a thumbs-up.

Dolores Hart was an actress in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Then, just like that, she gave up acting in favor of a cloistered life. She has been a nun ever since. Rebecca Cammisa's Oscar-nominated "God Is the Bigger Elvis" focuses on Hart's life in the Benedictine order at the Abbey of Regina Laudis, with some clips of her movie roles. Hart is the only nun who is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.I can understand why a person would want to leave Hollywood, but I can't imagine adopting a religious lifestyle. I guess that if it's made Dolores Hart happy, then more power to her. She was a real hottie in her movie roles. The only credit of hers that I've seen - besides this documentary - is an episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". I wonder if she talks to the abbey's other nuns about her encounters with Elvis Presley and Montgomery Clift.In the end, it's not a great documentary, but worth seeing.

I am no catholic. I can't even say I believe there is a god. But I defy anybody with a beating heart to judge this as anything but an ode to love. It is uplifting and heart- breaking. Mostly it drives home the glory of humanity. How many times have you seen that achieved in a short documentary? We have a central character who has made the most anti-Hollywood choice in history and a supporting cast who have made equally bold steps to back her up. Stock footage of the monastery deserve your full attention because they add so much nuance and clarity. It is a perfectly sculpted film, with humour and intrigue and of a succinct but lush economy.