‘Honk for Jesus’ is a satire that never finds a witty groove
If there is such a thing as a multiverse, perhaps a reality exists in which “Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.” is funny. Perhaps even very funny.
It isn’t this one.
That’s a real bummer, too, because it’s easy to be intrigued with the idea of Sterling K. Brown — so compelling as Randall Pearson on the recently concluded NBC drama series “This Is Us” — playing a scandal-riddled preacher from a Southern Baptist megachurch.
It’s not that Brown isn’t up to the task; it’s that the film’s writerdirector, Adamma Ebo, has picked a project too ambitious for her feature debut.
The feature started as a short, which Ebo made while working toward her master of fine arts degree at UCLA.
We can appreciate her desire to look at the religious culture in which she was raised — she attended a megachurch in Atlanta while growing up — through the lens of satirical comedy. Terrific satire is a tall order, though, and Ebo fails to find the comedic tone with an approach that’s part straight comedy, part mockumentary.
“Honk for Jesus” is largely unfocused and, more importantly, almost entirely unfunny.
It is the story of Brown’s Pastor Lee-Curtis Childs and his wife, Trinitie Childs (Regina Hall), first lady of the church where Lee-Curtis used to preach to thousands. That was before, well, the unpleasantness, a scandal involving his interactions with multiple young men in the congregation.
In one of our first moments with him, we see him stepping in literal you-know-what just outside the church’s doors, an incident to which he reacts very poorly because he is wearing expensive Italian shoes. (It would help if we somewhat liked LeeCurtis despite his obvious faults, but this moment helps to ensure we never will.)
The couple have a huge closet filled with pricy clothing in their mansion, outside of which sit several very nice cars. Clearly, preaching used to be very profitable.
These days, though, things are different for the Childses, who had to close their church after his indiscretions came to light. Now they are planning a comeback, with an Easter Sunday reopening of the church. They are counting on many congregants wandering back to them.
That is why the documentary crew is following them, and despite Trinitie’s best efforts to control the narrative, the Childses constantly are captured at something other than their best.
While they themselves may be reason enough for the comeback to fail, they also face competition from Sakura and Keon Sumpter — Nicole Beharie (“Miss Juneteenth”) and Conphidance (“Little America — The Cowboy”) — a young married couple, both of
them pastors, They are planning to open a new location of their increasingly popular Heaven’s House on the same religiously significant day.
Nonetheless, Lee-Curtis and Trinitie plow ahead with their plans, he practicing his all-important sermon for the day of their “rebirth” as she criticizes it mercilessly. They also desperately seek attention, including logging hours by the road looking for, yes, affirming honks from passing cars.
Even with an uneven performance from Hall (“Girls Trip,” “Me Time”), you at least somewhat feel for Trinitie — but then she’s also probably staying with her husband for the wrong reasons.
Perhaps, given the immense talent of Brown, there was something he could have done to lift “Honk for Jesus,” or at least to make Lee-Curtis more relatable. If that thing exists, however, he didn’t do it.
“Honk for Jesus” does elicit the occasional smile, such as when Lee-Curtis is preaching with great passion to a loyal few faithful. He gets so swept up in his act, however phony it may be, that he takes off his shirt. As he reveals his muscular chest, a couple in the pews cover the eyes of their young daughter.
If the movie worked as intended, that moment would barely be memorable. That it stands out is damning.
There may be enough here for certain folks, especially those who, like Ebo, grew up in this culture. She seemingly took great care to get the fashion — exemplified by Trinitie’s hat choices — right. Ultimately, though, that’s just dressing on a subpar salad.