Sniffling, sighs of disappointment, harmonizing voices and lip smacking produced a cacophony of sounds at a recent showing of the movie “The Gospel.”
“The Gospel” is a movie that is touching yet disappointing. The plot is based on the biblical parable of the Prodigal Son. However, very few scriptures were quoted, the church services were not realistic, the singing was fake and the acting was bad. The attempt to woo the crowd with gospel performances by Yolanda Adams, Hezekiah Walker and Martha Munizzi proved to be the best part of the movie.
Boris Kodjoe, who lip-synched throughout the movie, played the prodigal son to Clifton Powell, who playedthe pastor. Kodjoe did not fit the role that he played. This was his first major role in a movie. His unbelievable musical scene and his over dramatized small scenes make the movie a disappointment.
The casting of actual preachers could have helped pull off a realistic, believable reenactment of the parable. A few action-packed scenes saved the movie from a total disaster, but overall this movie is filled with cliches, predictable scenes and bad acting (I have to admit that the singing was good, however). In my view, it barely deserves a three-star on the Roger Ebert scale. “The Gospel” is not a total waste of money, but my advice is wait for it to come out on cable.