The Gospel

This was by no means an outstanding movie, and if I didn't feel some professional obligation to see it (I'm a pastor) I probably would have passed. But then I would have missed out on a solid film telling a compelling story with some fine acting and even better music.

Yes, many of the characters are two-dimensional, and yes, the plot is predictable. But that's because it's telling an old, old story. Within that old, old story a variety of subplots bring up real-life issues in families, workplaces, churches...and excuses to bring on some very fine black gospel music (as well as gospel adaptations of popular "white" tunes).

I'm not a pastor in the black church, so I can't speak to the back rooms of that culture, but I can say that most pastors of whatever stripe do face the lure to "bigger and better," whether it be budget or attendance or campus acreage or book sales or conference registrations. And the wives of pastors face the constant challenge of being both honest and supportive, without losing their own integrity in what's a very difficult environment.

I would definitely recommend this film; for all its shortcomings it is a powerful piece.

Its saddening that a lot of people have just voted '1' just to ruin the rating of this film on IMDb. I doubt if anyone really believes it is that bad as there are very few films (that I have chosen to watch) I would give ratings below 2. Equally a few people have given it 10 to counteract the 1's sadly they are out numbered. I have rated it 7 as I believe it had its highlights but also a few shortcomings.

I don't think you need to be a Christian to watch the film and not even black (I can remember seeing only one white character that spent more than two seconds on screen, what a change). One requirement might be to enjoy music though.

The film starts with a very good mass choir rendition of a popular gospel tune 'Our God is an Awesome God' (has about 5 minutes of screen time over the opening credits) and later there are at least 2 other performances of equal duration. Sadly the performance by Fred Hammmond of Commissioned fame was interspersed with acting. There was also singing from Yolanda Adams and Tamyra Grey (former American idol contestant).

As the story opens, Pastor Fred Taylor has a thriving church in Atlanta which his son David is leading in praise and worship. David's mother dies and he blames Fred for never being there for them. David leaves the church and 15 years later becomes a successful R&B Singer with a hit on the charts called "Let Me Undress You." David's friend, Rev Charles Frank (Idris Elba)who was also in youth ministry stays behind at the church becomes an associate minister and is now in line to take over the church which happens to now be having financial problems.

Pastor Fred develops cancer and David returns home to be with his dad and the rest of the film focuses on his internal dilemma whether he should focus on his music career or the church and the leadership battle between Frank - who has now developed a great ego - and Associate Pastor Terrance Hunter (Donnie McClurkin).

Boris Kodjoe (once voted as one of the 50 most beautiful people on the planet) was very good in the lead role as David Taylor however there were a few areas where his acting came across as being stiff when he was out of his comfort zone. I was impressed by his acting when he was leading the choir. Omar Gooding was also excellent as the Manager/sidekick. Other members of the cast were very good including Idris Elba, Clifton Powell and Donnie McClurkin.

The movie attempted to explore church politics in a very realistic way, however I was a bit disappointed at the sudden reversal of Frank. (Perhaps it will be explored further in the deleted scenes on the DVD. (And to the reviewer from earlier - yes some of us do want to see the deleted scenes).

I must admit I don't see links to the fighting temptations as that was mainly a comedy and this was a powerful drama.

My main criticism is that they tried too hard to give the film a happy ending that would please all but it didn't strike me as being very realistic. Overall though a very good film worth watching.

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.

I have a confession. It was out of the pure, unmitigated desire to see Idris Elba, the delectably evil Stringer Bell from HBO's "The Wire", on the big screen that I agreed "to have church," via the movie theater on a Friday night. I must say, the guilt along with the redemption was worth it. And I know I'm a sinner in that I didn't know who to look at first, Idris in his wife-beaters and tailored suits or Boris Kodjo in washed jeans and black leather--too much glorious macho for one screen let alone one southern black church. Kodjo is warm, expressive, and impressively at ease in walking that line between saint and sinner as he uses his God given gift to save the church and at the same time is not above beating down the unrepentant if the situation demands it. If I have one complaint, it would be that the sexual rivalry was implicit but not fully heightened to dramatic ends, though I am sure such a heightening would have compromised the message. Nona Gaye's moments on screen, The Matrix, Crash, are always a visitation of nearly ethereal grace, nobility, and an uncompromising beauty. The audience applauded at movie's end, vowing to buy the soundtrack and pick up a prayer book.

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.