Change of Habit (1969)

A few notable items about this movie before we begin. First, this was Elvis Presley's last film in which he acted. Second, "In the Ghetto" does not appear in the soundtrack, though the song and film both came out in 1969. Third, Ed Asner and Mary Tyler Moore are both in the movie, and I like to think that it may have had a hand in their working together on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1970. If anyone runs into Ed, be sure to ask.

So, Change of Habit. Mary Tyler Moore stars as Sister Michelle, the leader of a trio of nuns who go undercover to work their nun magic in a surprisingly diverse ghetto. Even Dr. John Carpenter (Elvis) doesn't know that his three new nurses at the free clinic answer to a higher power. Which makes the "I don't do abortions" scene hilarious.

After some initial misunderstandings, the women get to work. Sister Irene (Barbara McNair) confronts some childhood demons as she does housecalls in an environment that she joined the sisterhood to escape. She encounters some Black Panther types who question her blackness, which makes her uneasy.

Sister Barbara (Jane Eliot) is best described as spunky. After tarting it up a bit to get some guys to move furniture into the women's apartment (and almost becoming an assault victim), she gets hellbent on bringing down the grocery store that consistently rips off the locals.

The major drama involves Sister Michelle. She is a speech therapist by training and has diagnosed a girl everyone thought was deaf with autism. Michelle wants to try to work with her through love and understanding, but the Doc decides that rage reduction is the way to go. And that scene ends up on film and it is as unsettling as you might imagine. But it's Elvis, so he manages to cure autism. Remember: his name is Carpenter, and Jesus was a carpenter. Anyway, Michelle falls for Elvis and has a crisis of faith.

The big event of Act II is the San Juan festival. Michelle uses it as an opportunity to release the stranglehold of The Banker, an "protection" extortionist. Barbara decides to give up the nun's life and become a full-time social activist. Michelle wants to flee to the convent so she doesn't have to choose God or the Doctor, but then she almost gets raped by another patient and Elvis saves her. Yes, that really happens. She and Irene do end up back in the convent, but John performs at the church's folk mass. The movie ends as Michelle tries to decide between Jesus or the Carpenter.

This movie is bad in the sense that it takes an incredibly superficial look at inner-city social issues. While it tries to be sharp, the presence of Elvis and MTM dulls the edge. Though if you can get through the truly offensive parts of the film (the rage reduction scene, the rape scene), Change of Habit is surprisingly watchable. To be clear, this is not a musical, though John Carpenter does sing a few songs including my favorite Elvis song "Rubberneckin'."

I think Change of Habit scores exactly 3.000000000 out of 5 stars. If there was one more cringey moment, this would be a bad movie. If the film had one more clever line, it would be a good movie. This film could be the tuning fork for just about any other movie.