The Apostle is a 1997 film, written and directed by Robert Duvall, who stars in the title role. John Beasley, Farrah Fawcett, Billy Bob Thornton, June Carter Cash, and Miranda Richardson also appear. It was filmed on location in and around Saint Martinville and Des Allemands, Louisiana with some establishing shots done in the Dallas, Texas area by a second unit before principal photography began.

Plot

Sonny (Duvall) is a Texan charismatic Pentecostal Christian minister with a wandering eye. As a result of his infidelity, his wife Jessie (portrayed by Fawcett) has begun a relationship with a youth minister named Horace. She refuses Sonny's desire to be reconciled, although she assures him that she will not interfere with his right to see his children. She has also conspired to use their church's bylaws to have him removed from power. Sonny asks God what to do. Much of the congregation sides with Sonny in this dispute. Sonny, however, refuses to start a new church, insisting that the one which forced him out was "his" church. At his child's Little League game, Sonny, in an emotional fit, attacks Horace with a bat and puts him into a coma.

A fleeing Sonny ditches his car in a river and gets rid of all identifying information. He ends up in Louisiana, where (now calling himself "The Apostle E.F.") he convinces a retired minister named Blackwell (played by Beasley) to help him start a new church. He also begins a dating relationship with a local radio station's employee (Richardson).