The Apostle E.F. — The Apostle (1997)

A role Duvall spent 13 years trying to get made — he wrote, produced, and starred in The Apostle as a Pentecostal preacher who commits a crime and flees to Louisiana to rebuild his ministry. The performance, which earned him his fifth Oscar nomination, is a dazzling fusion of fire-breathing evangelical fervor and private shame. Many critics consider it his finest work — deeper and more complex than even Tender Mercies.