If the road to Heaven is paved with bad movies, then I’m glad I sat through “The Gospel” in its entirety. Rob Hardy’s attempt at a modern day Prodigal Son is a disappointment.



After the death of his mother and fallout with his father, David Taylor, played by Boris Kodjoe, strays from his path as young minister and star of the choir. Fifteen years later, R&B superstar “DT” returns home after finding out that his father Bishop Fred Taylor, (Clifton Powell) pastor and co-founder of New Revelations Baptist Church, is ill. Although well received by his father and cousin Charlene, David struggles to gain the trust of the church members, especially Frank (Idris Elba), his childhood friend, and father’s successor. 



Though it seems like a good storyline, poor setup and subplots that go nowhere, make “The Gospel” difficult to endure. The weakly established premise of a strained relationship between David and his father, not to mention the contrived rivalry with Frank make the plot difficult to accept. Lack of character development doesn’t allow the viewer to understand or care about anything the characters are doing. 



To make matters worse, the editing does little more than produce a headache. Choppy scenes and unnecessary shots serve only to confuse and distract the viewer. There are too many insignificant dialogues and uninspired “soul searching” scenes that should have been left on the cutting room floor. 



It was nice to see some non-recycled Black actors, however the better acted scenes did little or nothing to move the plot, forcing the viewer to dwell on the numerous cheesy parts. 



The best part of “The Gospel” is undoubtedly the music. With Gospel all-stars like Kirk Franklin, Yolanda Adams, Fred Hammond, Donnie McClurkin and Hezekiah Walker, you can’t go wrong. Although confusing montages and dizzying cuts take away from the church and choir scenes, they are still the number one reason to see this film. 

Writer/Director Rob Hardy does a good job directing, especially in the larger church scenes, but there are simply too many unforgivable elements that ruin “The Gospel”. 



It would have been nice to see some of the larger themes such as the notorious big church, among other things, addressed in a more productive way. “The Gospel” brings up so many issues between the religious and secular world, only to let them fizzle away, leaving you wondering about the real point of the movie.



“The Gospel” concludes with yet another puzzling montage in place of a clear and definitive ending. Buy the soundtrack, and catch this one on video.