You know, religious cinema doesn’t have to be bad. There have been a great number of excellent Christian movies over the years, and a number of the most renowned directors in the history of film itself have been explicitly Christian in their intent. This is, however, something that Americans, by and large, have not been able to figure out, and Preacher’s Kid is yet another casualty on this field of battle. Despite every indication that the film is sincere in its aims, it is not the least bit affecting, nor does it open itself up to allow for people who don’t already share its very precise view of the world to engage in the experience at all.
Angie (Letoya Luckett, one of the original members of Destiny’s Child) is an exceptionally talented singer, but the only opportunity she gets to do so is at the church where her father preaches. One night, compelled by her own curiosity (and what is portrayed as teenage rebellion), she sneaks away to see a concert performed by Devlin Mitchell (Tank), and manages to catch his eye. Before long, she’s on the road touring with him as an understudy in the play Daddy Can I Come Home, and exposed to all of the temptations and hardships of the outside world, not to mention realizing that this pop singer may not be as forthright and honest as originally thought. With all of the pressure of potential fame bearing down upon her, her family begins to worry whether she’ll break under the flashy lights, or if she’ll get the sense to come back home to her church.
Before we go any further, I just want to say outright that I don’t have any problem with the notion of being ‘saved’, nor do I think that it’s too vague or illusory a concept to base a film on. Considering how divided religious and secular entertainment have become, not to mention how sarcastic and deadpan our notion of mainstream entertainment is presently, it’s nice to think that films can still be made with the conviction that they could have a profound and positive effect on people’s lives. The problem is, however, that you can’t really make such a film without complete conviction, and that’s exactly the kind of no man’s land that Preacher’s Kid occupies. While it never shrinks to outright scare tactics about the world outside the church (there are no Jack Chick-esque cartoon devils to be found here), it never truly endows its characters with the capability of making intelligent decisions, which is fairly crucial to something like this (otherwise, what is the true significance of being saved?). Angie may be a talented singer, but she rarely acts as more than an automaton through which writer-director Stan Foster can make his points than an authentic, self-aware character. It’s fair enough to think that a starstruck young woman would be taken in by the attentions of a pop star; it’s kind of another to think that she’d be so blind to what was happening to her as she is here, and to be led astray quite as easily, but also to return home under conditions quite so trite. If you read far enough into the mechanics of the story, it seems almost as if she’s just going to follow after any man who commands her until another one takes his turn at bat.
But then again, we’re clearly not meant to think that deeply about it that deeply, nor are we supposed to take anything but mild enjoyment out of the film. But that, perhaps, is another problem. The music is never all that captivating, and the characters never inspire much investment in their problems (probably because we know fairly early on how they will be resolved), so I'm not sure where the entertainment value would come from. All in all, the effort feels very slight, too slight for the content at hand, and too slight to give off anything but that Preacher’s Kid is preaching to the already converted.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
The Blu-ray also features a number of short documentaries, including The Music of The Preacher’s Kid, The Prodigal Experience: Reflections on a Story, a brief profile on Letoya Luckett, and The Preacher’s Kid in Atlanta, a short profile of the city. There are also a number of deleted scenes, listed as additional footage.
"Preacher's Kid" is on sale May 4, 2010 and is rated PG13. Drama. Written and directed by Stan Foster. Starring Essence Atkins, Gregory Alan Williams, Letoya Luckett, Sharif Atkins, Tammy Townsend, Tank, Ella Joyce.
