The mockumentary format isn’t what saves “Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.”
The film largely hinges on Regina Hall’s performance as the wife of a scandal-ridden mega-church pastor.
She tries to soften the blows that come from a camera that never seems to go off or a husband (Sterling K. Brown) who doesn’t edit what he says.
The woman’s constant interference keeps the film moving and, in the end, provides its most heartbreaking moments.
There, because he thinks it’ll bring parishioners, she stands in whiteface holding a sign that says, “Honk for Jesus.” On so many levels, Hall’s performance resonates.
Brown is effective, too, but he’s the reason for their fall from grace.
Accused of sexual indiscretions, Lee-Curtis Childs thinks he can woo with charisma, not honesty. He romps through his Prada-laden closet and suggests it just takes one good Sunday to bring him back.
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Unfortunately, the masses have disappeared (he’s down to five faithful followers) and a nearby church, led by a younger pair of pastors (nicely played by Nicole Beharie and Conphidance), doesn’t have the questionable forays to tether it.
Because director Adamma Ebo includes interviews with others, we see what Lee-Curtis has done and what kind of effect it has had. Some of those more truthful moments are chilling and far more indicative of what “Honk for Jesus” could have been, not what it is.
Often trying too hard to get “The Office”-level laughs, “Honk for Jesus” holds its camera too long and lets scenes that shouldn’t be included play out to an uncomfortable degree. There’s a bedroom scene, for example, that wouldn’t have been in a real documentary; it shouldn’t be here, either, even though it provides a glimpse of what’s really going on.
When Hall’s Trinitie feels the cameras are too close, “Honk for Jesus” becomes the Jim Bakker story we didn’t get from “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.” She has the façade of someone who’s confident but her eyes always betray her. When they realize the real truth about Wander to Greater Paths Baptist Church, we know what’s afoot.
Brown has all the bluster necessary to play a man who thinks he’s above God’s law and isn’t afraid to strut around like Sherman Hemsley in “Amen.” He’s unpredictable, which makes Hall’s work so stunning.
The film, though, needed to pull back on the drive for laughs. Irony alone would have delivered them. When it goes for those Jim Halpert eye rolls, “Honk for Jesus” falls short.
To bring it back, Ebo cuts to Hall, who embraces big hats (perhaps to hide her true feelings) and blind faith.
Sitting on her sanctuary’s throne, Trinitie speaks volumes. But it’s that final scene that really saves the film. There, like so many others who have been exploited, she shows the true cost. “Honk for Jesus” may not be redemption for her or her husband, but it’s a valedictory for Hall. She towers.
