Given the increased popularity of faith-based films and the urban-tinged work of Tyler Perry, it’s no surprise that other studios have jumped on the Christian-film bandwagon, looking to catch their own low-budget lightning in a bottle.
I was shocked that PREACHER’S KID (PG-13, 1 1/2 stars) got a brief theatrical run in Seattle this winter – after all, the Emerald City isn’t exactly a hotbed for faith features – but I guess that shows Warner Bros. commitment to the film (or a very strong contract by the producers).
As a psuedo-critic, this is the kind of movie that I struggle with – this is not a well-made or particularly engaging film, but one with its heart in the right place. The target audience will enjoy it; the rest of us will wince at the cliche-filled proceedings.
Former Destiny’s Child singer LeToya Luckett stars as Angie, a young woman living in the shadow of her bishop father. Wanting to experience life on her own terms, she leaves town to join a traveling gospel road show.
There, she follows the familiar film path of success and failure, finding her voice while falling in love with the bad-boy star of the show (former R&B singer Tank). Eventually, however, her ups and downs cause her to reconsider and reconnect with those she left behind.
If you’ve ever seen any of Perry’s films, you can see the template stitched on here – heavy-handed moralizing mixed with, in this case, impressive musical performances and awkward stabs at humor.
This formula often works on stage (where many urban faith-based films have their origins), but doesn’t translate well on film. Give first time director Stan Foster credit for trying to avoid some of these pitfalls, but the genre calls for them more often than not.
He does get a standout performance from Luckett, who proves to be a natural actress. It helps that she gets to sing, and she shows off her great voice in several scenes. I look forward to what she does in the future.