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Directed By
Rob Hardy, Rob Hardy
Written By:
Rob Hardy
Cast:
Clifton Powell, Idris Elba, Nona Gaye, Omar Gooding, Keshia Knight Pulliam, Boris Kodjoe, Michael J. Pagan, Frank Taylor, Tamyra Gray, Dwayne Boyd, John Fitzgerald Page, Yolanda Adams, Fred Hammond, Donnie McClurkin, Martha Munizzi, John Fitzgerald Page, Brandon Thaxton, Hezek
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The Gospel (2005)
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Movie Review by Tony 
February 23rd, 2006
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When "The Gospel" is playing music, it is something to be seen and heard. The music is profound, motivating, and sure to get you to clap your hands, stand up in your seat, and feel inspired. When we leave the comfort zone of the music and Church, oh boy, we are in trouble. We are stuck with predictable fare, high school level acting, and direction that has left me with a headache. This is not a film, this is paying 9 bucks to listen to the soundtrack of this movie.
We open up with David Taylor (Boris Kodjoe) as a young child attempting to be a minister with his father who runs, helped build, and is the lead pastor there. His mother suddenly passes away, and he blames his father for spending too much time at the Church and not being a good enough father and husband to the family. He turns his back on his family and god and leaves them.
We fast forward a couple of years later and David Taylor is now a hot and up and coming R&B star with money, women, and a good life. His manager is from Wild and Crazy kids fame Omar Gooding. He's on tour, making 40 thousand dollars a show, and has nothing to do with his family or god, until he gets a sudden phone call that is father is sick. This brings him back to his hometown, and wouldn't you know it, his Church as well.
The Church is not the same as when we left if. It's fallen on hard times and money woes. David uses his fame, riches, and star power to help raise some money to build a bigger and better Church and become more involved. We also get the movie romance thrown in with him and American Idol star Tamyra Gray. Nothing worth mentioning or out of the ordinary here. We also get our movie villain in Charles Frank (Idris Elba), who is waiting for David's father to pass away, so he can be head pastor. He's more concerned with his own ego then spreading the word of the lord.
Whether you believe or not in god is clearly up to you and the message of the movie is certainly profound and has good intentions, but it never really gets off the ground. We deal with Church politics, beliefs, issues, morals, and other topics that could have dealt with in depth and fleshed out over the course of this film, but instead director Rob Hardy gives us hospital scene melodrama and tissue inducing moments. Not to mention, when the film gets heavy, a lot of the actors look to be trying to hard to obtain emotion. It comes off forced and never really authentic or genuine.
Not to mention, the director comes off like a kid who just got the Internet and web devices as he uses fast cuts from the music to the crowd and other photo-shopped type movements. I never thought I would be sea sick while viewing a film, but I was. It gets very irritating and hard to follow. Stick with one area, don't bounce us back and forth like a dodge ball.
Put Terrance Howard in this film, give us more depth, more realism, and a better director, and you got a good flick. Buy the soundtrack, pass on the film.
Tony Farinella
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