REVIEW: HONK FOR JESUS

HONK FOR JESUS: Now in theaters and streaming on Paramount +. #SpoilerAlert. Let's talk satire in screenwriting.

Regardless of whose life we assume this film is about, satires are films with something to say. The themes often trump story and often give a specific point of view instead of asking a dramatic question and allowing the audience to grapple or dare we say be convicted by the answers like documentaries. Hence, the mockumentary shooting style being an obvious choice for this satire.

HONK FOR JESUS does just this by giving an opinion on the larger than life celebrity preachers, mega churches, nice nasty first ladies, women covering their men while losing themselves, and the hypocrisy of the church teaching against the very thing that the clergy is involved in. 

What stood out most was Lee Curtis' need to redeem himself while not working on himself yet feeling he is called to save others. This is often a criticism of the church - Pastors on a pedestal that they never step down from even when pushed. For anyone who is close enough to the church, I'm sure you felt all of this deep down in your spirit. 

Critique
- It was hard to invest in the characters. Even though I understood them to be anti-heroes, I still wanted them to have redeemable qualities to care enough about how their story would unfold. 
- It took quite some time to get to the story. We spend a lot of time in set up (this is often a critique of mockmentary style films that push style and jokes over story) giving us no real complications or anything to track until we learn the two churches will revive on the same day. Until then, it felt monotonous. Funny. But monotonous.
- I love Nicole Beharie. Definitely on my wish list. 💚
What say you?

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AUTHOR

Shannan E. Johnson is a former creative executive at The Syfy Channel turned CEO + Head Consultant of The Professional Pen, a script consultancy that develops screenwriters from idea to pitch to become more confident storytellers ready for a professional screenwriting career, and consults with scripted development teams at entertainment companies to streamline their notes process to get to pre-production more efficiently.