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    Movie Review

    Saints become sinners in mediocre Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.

    Alex Bentley
    Aug 31, 2022 | 10:50 am
    Conphidance and Nicole Beharie in Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.play icon
    Conphidance and Nicole Beharie in Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.
    Photo by Steve Swisher courtesy of Pinky Promise LLC

    Those who consider themselves religious wouldn’t be entirely wrong if they complained that it’s difficult to find positive portrayals of religion in mainstream movies. High-profile films like The Da Vinci Code, Doubt, Spotlight, and the recent The Eyes of Tammy Faye have each featured stories where those professing to spread the word of God were the ones who were the biggest sinners.

    The latest film in that vein is Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul., which centers on Paster Lee-Curtis Childs (Sterling K. Brown) and his wife Trinitie (Regina Hall), who are the leaders at Wander to Greater Paths Baptist Church. Make that, were the leaders, as they’ve lost their entire mega-church congregation of 25,000 people after Lee-Curtis is implicated in a scandal that’s gradually revealed over the course of the film.

    Lee-Curtis and Trinitie have hired a documentary crew to try to rehabilitate their image and hopefully witness their rise back to power. What they capture instead is the rampant greed and narcissism of Lee-Child, who never met an expensive item he didn’t covet, and the crisis of faith of Trinitie, who finds it increasingly difficult to stand by her husband given his sins and his unbending expectations of her.

    Written and directed by Adamma Ebo, the film is a satire of both mega-church leaders who flaunt their wealth and of a specific sect of Christianity. The film is labeled as a comedy, and while there are occasional funny flourishes, the story is actually very serious for much of its running time. The transgression of which Lee-Child is accused and the obviously strained relationship between him and Trinitie makes for some somber viewing, no matter how goofy or over-the-top the two of them act.

    Unfortunately, the mockumentary aspect of the film never gels. The crew making the film is set up as a “fly on the wall” group, meaning we never hear them or see them. This makes for some supremely awkward scenes as Lee-Curtis and Trinitie fumble around, mugging for the camera without any direction. While this might solidify their character traits, it doesn’t make for interesting viewing. It also leads to confusion as Ebo moves back-and-forth between documentary scenes and “real” scenes, with the line between the two becoming very blurry.

    Ebo attempts to bring some additional levity to the film with the characters of Keon and Shakura Sumpter (Conphidance and Nicole Beharie), two pastors who lead a growing church that has siphoned off many of the Childs’ former congregants. The juxtaposition between the two couples is clear, and making the film more about the two churches’ rivalry might have made for a more successful story than the one Ebo chose.

    Whatever the film’s story faults may be, you can’t lay that at the feet of Brown or Hall, as each is highly committed to their role. Hall is a more natural comedic performer and so those parts of the film fit her better, but Brown is completely believable as the pompous and oftentimes clueless Lee-Child. Conphidance and Beharie are not as well-known, but they each deserve bigger roles after scoring with their performances here.

    Notable as the first non-horror release from Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions, Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. never seems to make much of a point. The main characters barely evolve over the course of the film, leaving the audience waiting for a resolution that never happens.

    ---

    Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. opens in theaters and debuts on Peacock on September 2. To find out how to get $3 movie tickets on National Cinema Day, September 3, go here.

    Conphidance and Nicole Beharie in Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.

    Conphidance and Nicole Beharie in Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.
      
    Photo by Steve Swisher/courtesy of Pinky Promise LLC
    Conphidance and Nicole Beharie in Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.
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    Movie Review

    Dark comedy Friendship covers male bonding with copious cringing

    Alex Bentley
    May 16, 2025 | 4:16 pm
    Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd in Friendship
    Photo courtesy of A24
    Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd in Friendship.

    Comedian Tim Robinson has gained a cult following thanks to series like Detroiters and I Think You Should Leave, in which his brand of cringe comedy is on full display. The former Saturday Night Live writer/performer has had a few small movie roles over the years, but he’s now getting his first starring role in the off-kilter Friendship.

    Robinson plays Craig, a mild-mannered suburbanite with a wife, Tami (Kate Mara) and son, Steven (Jack Dylan Grazer). Craig has a boring life that involves little more than going to his middle manager job while wearing the same clothes day after day, anticipating the next Marvel movie, and helping Tami out with her at-home floral business.

    He gets a jolt of energy when Austin (Paul Rudd) moves into the neighborhood. The two men seem to hit it off, with Austin - a weatherman at a local TV channel - even taking Craig on a couple of impromptu adventures. But when Craig commits a couple of faux pas at a group gathering at Austin’s house, their bond starts to fracture.

    Even though the film is written and directed by Andrew DeYoung, it’s clear that Robinson had a big influence on the style of comedy it features. There are no big set pieces with a slew of jokes coming one after another. Instead, the film forces the audience to try to vibe with the very particular type of wavelength it’s giving off, one that could almost be called anti-comedy for the way the laughs come out of left field.

    The 100-minute film is full of random comedic moments, like Steven kissing Tami on the lips, Craig being obsessed with his plain brown clothes, a group sing-along, and more. More often than not, it’s the way Craig reacts to both normal and abnormal situations that gets the laughs. The character is needy and oblivious, two traits that combine to make many of his actions cringeworthy.

    Perhaps most importantly for this type of movie, there are many things in the story that go unexplained or don’t make sense. Seemingly crucial elements are brought up only to fade away just as quickly, while other parts that appeared to be throwaway sections get callbacks later in the film. DeYoung and Robinson are determined to keep the audience on their toes the entire time, never knowing what to expect next.

    Robinson has the perfect face for a story like this, one that’s bland enough to blend into the background but memorable enough to sell the jokes. His demeanor is also excellent, never becoming too expressive, even when he gets angry. With long hair, a mustache, and a certain swagger, Rudd is a great complement to Robinson. Only in a film like this would an everyman like Rudd be considered the suave and cool one.

    There will be some that will see Friendship and come away wondering what the hell they just watched. But anyone who goes in knowing that they’re about to witness a comedy that challenges their sensibilities will likely have a great time.

    ---

    Friendship is now playing in select theaters.

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