`DOROTHY' WELL WORTH THE WAIT.

Byline: Amy Dawes Daily News Film Writer

``Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story'' is an exceptional movie by any measure - from the luminous lead performance by the sparkling Moira Kelly to the lively direction, rich production values and smart, stimulating script.

Most compelling, though, is that it finally brings to the screen the life of the controversial catholic activist Dorothy Day, one of the most challenging and inspiring American figures of this century.

Day, who died in 1980 at age 83, is the closest thing to a Mother Teresa America has seen. Though she came of age as an agnostic socialist who ran with a crowd of literary bohemians - including Eugene O'Neill and Hart Crane - in the Greenwich Village of the 1920s, she embraced Catholicism with total dedication in 1927 and devoted herself to a life of service to the poor, opening a soup kitchen and founding the Catholic Worker movement, which to this day maintains a network of facilities to aid the indigent across the United States.

``Angels'' was produced by Father Kieser ``Bud'' Kieser, who is well-known in the entertainment industry for producing the well-regarded 1988 movie ``Romero,'' starring Raul Julia as the slain Salvadoran archbishop, as well as the long-running L.A.-based television program ``Insight.''

For whatever reason, the funding didn't come easily - the project was turned down by the studios, and Kieser persisted for more than four years to put the $4 million budget together via Catholic organizations and private investors. The resulting film looks as though it cost at least six times as much - a tribute to Kieser's high standards as a producer and to the many resources, including wardrobe and props, that were donated by the major studios and other companies.

It's easy to see what kept Kieser going - Day's story is truly interesting and provides a lively platform for ideological debate.

Many would expect a church-funded movie to be dogmatic, but ``Angels'' avoids that with a skeptical and witty script by John Wells, a principal writer for ``ER'' and ``China Beach.''

Plenty of slings and arrows are aimed at organized religion by the atheists in the story, including Day's common-law husband, Forster (Lenny Von Dohlen), who complains that religion ``sucks all the joy right out of life.''

When the unconverted Day raises angry questions about the church to a nun who is feeding the poor, the nun replies, ``You're a smart woman. Make up your own mind.''

``Tell the cardinal to sell his mansion,'' says one man, when asked for a donation.

Day, who spent her 20s working as a firebrand journalist for leftist newspapers, embraced the church at age 30. In New York City at the height of the Depression, she met an itinerant French Catholic scholar and laborer Peter Maurin (played in the movie by Martin Sheen) who challenged her to devote all of her resources to opening a soup kitchen and shelter for the poor. Together they did so, also launching the Catholic Worker newspaper, whose radical views were not particularly pleasing to the church.

The most effective aspect of the movie is that it humanizes its subject by simply telling it like it is, including Day's doubts and human failings. Included are her preconversion affairs and abortion, and the skeptical view held by some that egotism was at the root of her self-sacrifice and good works. Neither does the movie pull any punches in its depiction of the trying and unglamorous shelter work itself, which often involved catering to alcoholics, the sick and the mentally ill.

The role of Day, which spans several decades, is handled with great range and subtlety by Kelly (``Chaplin,'' ``Little Odessa''), who is both as fiery and as vulnerable, as innocent and as mature as the role demands.

Sheen is also terrific in a rather amusing and idiosyncratic take on the role of Peter Maurin, Day's friend and mentor. Lenny Von Dohlen, as her common-law husband, from whom she separated after joining the church, is always unique and charismatic.

The movie is being released by Kieser's Paulist Pictures, which lacks the resources of the major studios, so its survival will depend on the swift attendance of those people who are always clamoring for quality pictures.

THE FACTS

The film: ``Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story'' (PG-13; references to sex, abortion).

The stars: Moira Kelly, Martin Sheen, Lenny Von Dohlen.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Michael Rhodes, screenplay by John Wells. Produced by Kieser ``Bud'' Keiser. Released by Paulist Pictures.

Running time: One hour, 51 minutes.

Playing: AMC Century 14, Century City.

Our rating: Four Stars.

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Photo

Photo: Heather Camille, left, and Moira Kelly in ``Entertai ning Angels: The Dorothy Day Story.''