The Gospel

A story of redemption, pride, jealousy, and reconciliation.

Fine cast with a stirring gospel soundtrack.

Although others have criticized the camera work and editing, those aspects of the movie neither bothered me nor detracted from my enjoyment of this uplifting film. I found that the acting, music, and story were engaging and enjoyable.

The singing performances of the choral groups and such gospel stars as Yolanda Adams, Fred Hammonds, Mom Winans, and Martha Munizzi combined nicely with, and elegantly complemented, the dramatic work of Idris Elba, Omar Gooding, Nona Gaye, and Clifton Powell.

American IDOL finalist Tamyra Gray shined in her acting and singing roles and showed that she has a bright future.

Not an award winning film, but quite entertaining.

The Gospel is an enjoyable movie with excellent singing. This is a feel good movie that probably won't earn an Oscar but it is very entertaining nevertheless. Some members of the cast were exceptional including Idris Elba, Clifton Powell and Donnie McClurkin. Tamyra Gray did a good job in her big screen debut. It had a good message and I would recommend it. If you enjoy gospel music, this movie should not be missed. Some of the top stars of gospel music appear in this movie including, Yolanda Adams, Fred Hammond, Hezekiah Walker, etc. This movie gives a fairly good depiction of church politics. It has comedy, drama and some tragedy mixed in. A good movie for the entire family. The soundtrack of the movie is enjoyable also.

There is something about THE GOSPEL that makes you want to like it: some fine actors (Boris Kodjoe, Idris Elba, Clifton Powell, Tamyra Gray, Aloma Wright, Nona Gaye) and some really terrific gospel singing. Writer/director Rob Hardy stretches the biblical tale of the Prodigal Son to the updated story of the son of a bishop of an evangelical church who runs away to become a R&B singing star only to return to his father when cancer of the prostate signals the end of his life. The 'other' son has inherited the mantle of the bishop with special interests deflecting his commitment to the bishop's origins and the Prodigal Son finally finds acceptance in offering his talents to further the original dream of his father.

The script is conversationally pedestrian but the actors do their best to make credible characters. There is a sense of commitment from the cast of extras that leaves a warm afterglow, but in the end this is a slight story saved by some fine music. Grady Harp, January 05

This was a pretty generic movie. If you like Gospel music this will set the mark. But do not look for anything but a text book prodigal son returns story to go along with the music. I probably could of wrote this review without seeing the movie because of the formula for this sort of the movie is the same the players just change.

1) Two boyhood friends

2) Something catastrophic happens to make one of them go astray

3) One stays home and basically becomes the either a Priest, A social Worker, a teacher or a policeman or some other pillar of the community.

4) The other one either became a harden criminal, or rich and famous who has lost his way and has rejected his previous life

5) Something catastrophic brings him home again, Either they are running from the cops. There's a death in the family or a little brother is out of control and is one step away from being on the Top of the FBI's Most Wanted List

6) Man returns only to find his best friend is either bitter or or to good to be true. Then neighborhood is in shambles and the Prostitute or the dope fiend at the corner is his ex girlfriend who left when he ran out of town. Oh and a family member is sicker then expected. And a beloved local landmark, be it a church, a park, a movie theater or high school hangout is being threaten with closure or is in shambles

7) the ending either consist of the person being captured by police in the case of the criminal, after saintly best friend turns him in. Or he decides to stay and use some of the millions he had made to thwart the beloved place from closing down. And if they do not get their ex girlfriend from turning tricks and taking dope they will fall in love with a new girl. Bitter buddy and him have mended fences. And they all live happily ever after. The End.

This movie has a little bit of each of the steps I mentioned with a few variations to the template. I believe the supporting cast was very good and the music was. But the following is a Bad Actor Alert from the Emergency Broadcast System. I loved him on Soul food but Boris Kedjoe was about as convincing as the Singing Nun playing a Usher type R&B star and was equally not convincing as a Gospel singer. That scene at his mothers grave toward the end of movie rivals the bad acting of Vin Diesel. This is a actor who IMO was good and good looking in Soul Food. But something was lacking here. He even looked strangely odd to me. His Co-star Idris Elba from The Wire on the other hand was very good. I think I could watch him in about anything.

I would recommend this move for people who love Gospel music. But for me because of the laziness of the script and the absolutely appalling acting from the lead the movie was barely watchable.

I wanted to comment on the comments about why people dislike this movie. I liked the Ten Commandments, The Fighting Temptations, Kingdom Come etc. My dislike for this movie had nothing to do with some anti religious sentiment. My dislike with the movie is because it was just a big music video with a generic script wrapped around it. Sort of like those bad Elvis Presley movies like Girls! Girls! Girls! when in the script was just added to the his singing. Being there are so little types of these movies being made I believe a lot of people crave them and are more then willing to over look the ineptness of this movie. We should expect more and demand it.

As one person already said, this film is a modern day retelling of the parable of "The Prodigal Son". David definitely is the younger son who runs away and lives a life of sin while Frank is the older brother who stays behind and who tries to live a righteous life. However, the twist in this is the fact that even though Frank is now the the head of his church he has forgotten that his main mission is to spread the word of the Lord. However, he uses his position to pretty much alienate everyone, including his wife. This film pretty much looks as if it pretty much speaks to a lot of people on a lot of different levels. One is obviously the music and the other is the moral dilemmas that many of us face in our lives. It also takes a hard look at a lot of preachers out there who, like Frank, use their positions to promote themselves and don't care about the needs of their congregations. This is truly a good film and it definitely has a very uplifting story.