Year of Release: 1992
Director: Emile Ardolino
Starring: Whoopi Goldberg, Maggie Smith, Kathy Najimy, Wendy Makkena, Mary Wickes, Harvey Keitel, Bill Nunn, Robert Miranda, Richard Portnow, Ellen Albertini Dow, Carmen Zapata
Genre: Comedy
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
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Synopsis and Review:
Director Emile Ardolino had a brief feature directorial career that tragically ended in 1993 when he passed away. But up until that moment, he managed to direct a series of successful features, primarily documentaries focused on Dance (which allowed him to win Emmys and an Oscar for best documentary), and feature films which included "Dirty Dancing" and the romantic comedy "Chances Are" (with Cybill Shepherd, Robert Downey Jr. and Mary Stuart Masterson). "Sister Act" turned out to be his biggest hit, eventually going on to elicit a less successful sequel, but nonetheless managing to further establish Whoopi Goldberg's career while launching Kathy Najimy's. The film written by the wonderfully talented Paul Rudnick, follows the story of Deloris Van Cartier, who has a singing act in Reno, Nevada. After she witnesses her gangster boyfriend kill a police informant, she flees and is placed under the Witness Protection program. She's hidden in a convent in San Francisco, under a new identity, that of sister Mary Clarence. Initially frowned upon by the Reverend Mother, Deloris/Mary Clarence starts working with the Choir, and her passion and input start translating into better and bigger performances. These performances in turn start bringing more and more people to church, and they collectively start having an impact in the lives of the community. As the trial of her gangster ex-boyfriend is coming up, Deloris/Mary Clarence gives notice to the Reverend Mother of her upcoming departure, but some crooked cops change her plans, leaving the nuns to figure out how to save her.
"Sister Act" initially pitched and devised as a vehicle for Bette Midler, went through a series of iterations, even as production started. The film uses a very typical comedy hook: the fish out of water scenario. In essence, a character who comes into a reality they do not understand, turns it upside down, with everyone learning some valuable lessons by the end of the third act, while simultaneously causing some comedic situations in the interim, precisely due to that unfamiliarity of context by the central character. In the case of "Sister Act", the sharp contrast is outlined by the presence of Deloris and her night club persona, versus the proper and restrained behavior of the Reverend Mother, embodied to perfection by Maggie Smith (who captures a bit of her Charlotte Bartlett character, from "A Room with a View", in that performance). The film lives from these sharp contrasts and from the talented actors embodying these characters, and while the film itself, is not necessarily the most original concept, it still manages to be sufficiently humorous and entertaining to warrant some attention. Whoopi Goldberg is fantastic, as is the supporting cast, including the wonderful Maggie Smith, the always underrated Harvey Keitel, Kathy Najimy and Bill Nunn. Innocuous fun, worth watching.
"Sister Act" initially pitched and devised as a vehicle for Bette Midler, went through a series of iterations, even as production started. The film uses a very typical comedy hook: the fish out of water scenario. In essence, a character who comes into a reality they do not understand, turns it upside down, with everyone learning some valuable lessons by the end of the third act, while simultaneously causing some comedic situations in the interim, precisely due to that unfamiliarity of context by the central character. In the case of "Sister Act", the sharp contrast is outlined by the presence of Deloris and her night club persona, versus the proper and restrained behavior of the Reverend Mother, embodied to perfection by Maggie Smith (who captures a bit of her Charlotte Bartlett character, from "A Room with a View", in that performance). The film lives from these sharp contrasts and from the talented actors embodying these characters, and while the film itself, is not necessarily the most original concept, it still manages to be sufficiently humorous and entertaining to warrant some attention. Whoopi Goldberg is fantastic, as is the supporting cast, including the wonderful Maggie Smith, the always underrated Harvey Keitel, Kathy Najimy and Bill Nunn. Innocuous fun, worth watching.
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