Robert Duvall wrote, directed and earned an Academy Award nomination for his lead performance in The Apostle , a tale of a deeply troubled Southern Pentecostal preacher. As the movie opens, Duvall's character, Sonny Dewey, is based in Texas, where he lives with his wife Jessie ( Farrah Fawcett ) and their two children, leading a fairly large, interracial congregation. Upon learning that Jessie has begun an affair with another, younger preacher ( Todd Allen ), Sonny attacks his rival with a baseball bat, leaving him comatose; fleeing the law, Sonny re-baptizes himself under the name the Apostle E.F. and ultimately lands in Louisiana, where he works tirelessly to build a new congregation. At both his best and his worst, Sonny/E.F. remains a morally ambiguous presence. — Jason Ankeny