For anyone who loves Southern Gospel music, or for anyone who grew up in the South or ever visited a "Holy Ghost Church," this movie is for you.
Robert Duvall is spot-on perfect as the East Texas/Louisiana preacher, Farrah Fawcett his wife, and the whole congregation and radio man so authentic that you figure they aren't actors at all but people pulled right off the street (or should I say right out of the pews?) of some bayou town in LA.
On a road trip once upon a time, Deb and I heading to Florida to see Nellie, we went to one of my favorite towns in Louisiana, Breaux Bridge, not far from the state line and Lafayette. Zydeco music and dancing on Saturday morning, white chocolate bread pudding in Cafe Des Amis.
"If you don't want to be on the devil's hit list, you better be on Jesus' mailing list," shouts the preacher.
"Now hug somebody's neck," he says, and the people do, and say Amen.
Duvall captures the spirit of those old time preachers and then some. He's had himself a zigzaggy past and he has some history as a "womanizer"--which ultimately leads to his downfall "in the eyes of the world," but he's got himself a Heaven-bound airplane and is unstoppable. He can fight and fix cars and "yell at Jesus" when he's mad at him.
I loved this movie!
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