Until now, I didn’t think you could make a bad mockumentary. It’s possible the less-than-stellar representatives of the genre had not yet been presented to me. And then this happened.
Pointless and uninspired, Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. left their whole of their creativity in a painful and clumsy two-sentence title never to return to it. Given the topic of megachurch transgressions, writer/director Adamma Ebo found neither the fun nor any insight into the world of Jesus-for-profit. There, that phrase: “Jesus-for-profit?” Already better than this film.
I wish I were kidding.
This is a critical time for Wander to Great Paths, a Baptist megachurch based in Atlanta. Pastor Lee-Curtis Childs (Sterling K. Brown), once boasting a flock of 26,000 souls, lost his following in light of a scandal, which is news to me. Southern Jesus freaks of the 21st century actually turn on their powerful leader for his a-morality? This is clearly the stuff of fiction. It is now a year after the worst; Pastor Childs and his supportive wife Trinitie Childs (Regina Hall) are ready to make a run at re-opening, except everything about them makes you wonder how they got so powerful in the first place.
The Childs [read: “Children”] are vain, indulgent, and if not mildly delusional, certainly unaware and/or dismissive of the lives other people lead. Pastor Childs owns an expensive suit in every color at the Crayola factory; Trinitie is, if anything, even more vain. When not presenting themselves as show ponies, the lie. They lie to others; they lie to each other; they lie to themselves; they are horrible people pretending to be servants of God. What’s more is they seem entirely unrepentant, which while deliciously ironic is also highly unoriginal (although I suppose that goes with the territory). Bottom line is it makes for truly awful protagonism. I could see the humor if the film just wanted to show us how out-of-touch these two are, but even at its best, that’s like making a TV show entirely about Dwight from “The Office.”
Speaking of “The Office,” Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. is told very much Office–style (confessional interviews, gotcha cameras, asides to the audience), except – and this is a big one- except for the punchlines.
The film will set up a possibly comic situation, like Lee-Curtis coming on to a younger man or Trinitie purchasing a $2,000 bonnet in the mall – I’m guessing at a store called “Lid$.” But then the scene will offer no humor payoff which makes me believe the moment is plot-relevant. Hey, Ms. Ebo, exactly how much plot were you planning on putting in a film about a power couple re-opening for business? From how much I laughed, I would guess it’s all plot.
Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. is the kind of film where you finish and look at your partner and wonder what you just saw. I spent a healthy twenty minutes trying to figure out the point of the film – religion is bad? Religious people are narcissistic jerks? Power corrupts? Know your audience? The ironic hubris of the humble few “chosen by God?” Leave well enough alone? I still can’t figure it out. The saddest part about all of this is that Godsquad Americans not only control a disproportionate amount of power; they have flexed and thrust their misinterpreted beliefs on the rest of the country. Hence, this is prime material for spoofing and ridiculing. This June, the religious right -at long last- finally managed to overturn Roe v. Wade with a pathetic minority of support and no change in either fact or public opinion. Hence, a film reflecting on the mechanisms of this artificial power needed to be smarter, sharper, funnier, more poignant. There was a responsibility here to all Americans who keep their country and religion separate to make a better film. Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. is an embarrassment.
The once was a pastor named Child
Whose libido made his urges run wild
Yet when it came to his story
The effect was bore-y
And many a frown was complied
Rated R, 102 Minutes
Director: Adamma Ebo
Writer: Adammo Ebo
Genre: What you get when a film has zero (0) good ideas
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Um … Jesus? No, probably not
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Anyone who has seen it
