The Gospel

The Gospel (Director: Rob Hardy)

Hardy directed three low-budget trashy movies, the Trois trilogy. Many of you may not have heard of these movies, but they got very limited releases in theatres. He also wrote this.

More religio-tainment, as critic-proof as it gets. The latest trend in movies such as Woman Thou Art Loosed and Diary of a Mad Black Woman is to acknowledge deep flaws within Christian people, that they too suffer domestic abuse or worldly temptations and often break off from the rest of the herd. The message is simple in all of these movies: You need a good dose of God in your system. Villains magically turn into saints and then there's some walk down the church aisle to go get saved while the choir sings some gorgeous hymn. It really is that easy!

David Taylor (Boris Kodjoe) is a man who turned on his reverend father (Clifton Powell) when his mom died fifteen years ago. Now he's living the life of sin: He's a pop singer who has a hit song about taking off your clothes and he has his pick of any fine woman who wants to share his bed. One morning he hears his dad has taken ill and he comes back to town finding the wheels in motion to change Reverend Taylor's vision for the New Revelations Church, which is suffering economic hardship and wants to build a new building. The next-in-line-pastor is egotistical, ambitious Frank (Idris Elba, "Stringer" Bell from "The Wire") whose drive for success supercedes all other matters. David decides to use his name to raise money for the church, which is obviously a conflict for some who know what his music represents, but of course, his submersion back into church culture makes him a changed man, and he even attracts the eye of golden-voiced Rain (Tamyra Gray, from the 1st season of "American Idol."). He also seeks change with the incoming regime. His renewed interest in all of this starts to alienate his manager buddy Wesley (Omar Gooding, Cuba's brother).

The movie has very good messages, as all Christian movies do--they always show that people can change even if they seem hopeless. But it's always a person who gives them a good talking-to that makes them see the light. And the change is instant. I guess it wouldn't be an attractive gesture for people to change gradually, to show it to be a difficult process, because the message is that it is easy.

There's some good music in here, some get-up-and-clap type music, the centerpiece being "Victory." Overall, just on pure critical terms, this movie isn't very good. On a purely entertainment level, beyond the songs, it doesn't have enough to grab your attention through and through.