Music Will Lead Her Away; Her Heart Will Bring Her Home

Casting movies that rely heavily on music can be a sticky situation because there are very few actors that are great actors and great singers. So do you cast an outstanding singer with nominal acting ability, or do cast a great actor who may not be best at carrying a tune. Preacher’s Kid did both. For the former there are the LeToya Lukett (she was one of girls kicked out of Destiny’s Child about ten years ago) and Durrell “Tank” Babbs (who had a number one R&B song with Please Don’t Go), while gospel artist Kiki Sheard also has a smaller role in the movie. On the other side of the coin is Sharif Atkins (ER) who has someone else sing and play piano for him.

With the music sung mostly by professionals, the songs are a stand out for Preacher’s Kid, especially the ones that open and close the movie, to the point you wonder why an accompanying soundtrack album wasn’t released s it would have don’t pretty good in the Christian and gospel charts.

But when the music stops, things tend to drag on until the next musical moment. We have all seen this story before, this time from first time director and writer Stan Foster (who also wrote the stage play Daddy Can I Please Come Home which serves as the backdrop for Preacher’s Kid), the prodigal son (or daughter in this case) leaves home against a parents blessing to experience the big bad world alone while fighting the temptation to give up to return to the comforts of home even if they got the dreaded, “If you walk out that door” speech.

Even though the two leads are novices, the supporting cast is solid most notably Clifton Powell (Next Friday) as the shifty producer of the play that Luckett runs off to join. Gregalen Williams (Baywatch) is convincing behind the pulpit as Luckett’s bishop father. While Essence Atkins (TBS’s upcoming sitcom version of Are We There Yet?) provided some nominal comedic relief as Luckett’s lone friend on the traveling play. But still Preacher’s Kid feels like a Lifetime movie for the large majority of the film.

As for the extra on the Blu-Ray (which is part of a combo pack that includes a Blu-Ray, DVD, and Digital Copy version of the film; you can also buy the DVD version separately or a digital download, all available today) you mostly have your standard issue fair. There are four featurettes (a making of, music of the film, and bios of Luckett and Atlanta, where the movie was filmed) which combined total around twenty minutes. Then there is another twenty minutes of deleted scenes including a storyline about how Powell got money to put on the play. You can also check out the official site at PreachersKidMovie.com.



Full Disclosure Notice: This Blu-Ray was given to me on behalf of Warner Brothers Entertainment for the sole purpose of reviewing the movie.