A couple weeks ago I was browsing through my Entertainment Weekly and noticed the name Kevin Sorbo. I know he's had various guest roles on a number of tv shows in recent years, but this time he was in a movie on the Hallmark Channel, Avenging Angel. My love for Kevin Sorbo will only fade ever so gently. He starred in one of my all time favorite tv shows, Hercules (pictured). I think some of the reasons for my love of the show are obvious. Yet, it was the interesting stories, good acting, great guest stars (like Lucy Lawless and Bruce Campbell), and the humor which kept me tuning in each Saturday evening. During its hey-day, it was the highest ranked syndicated tv show - blowing all sorts of records.
And so out of my love for Sorbo, I tuned in last night. I could not help but laugh during the first ten minutes, as the new preacher (Sorbo) in the small, post-Civil War, Western town prepared for his first Sunday service. His saintly wife and daughter assisted him, while she made a reference to his past in the war and his formerly bloody ways. Meanwhile, the evil local big man about town is having some pacifist loving settlers massacred. Naturally, the Preacher's wife and daughter die (is it just me, or does Kevin Sorbo's wife Sam spend her career playing his wife/fiance/girlfriend who dies before her time?). The Preacher spends the rest of the time fighting for justice (and not vengeance, regardless of the movie's title).
The movie got better. Sorbo is definitely more in his own element when playing a guy who fights for justice (just like Herc did). Sorbo as a quiet preacher just didn't cut it. Now with a gun - much more believable. I thought of how ridiculous for a preacher to parade a gun around, and then I remembered a story about my Papa and the feuding churches at which he was preaching. Cynthia Watros (Libby from Lost) was saloon girl turned good who wins the Preacher's heart, despite of one of the worst Southern accents I have heard in quite some time.
The story had some possibilities. Yet, it was too thinly written with one dimensional characters and dialogue I know I have heard way too often. I wasted 2 hours. Now, if they had just had the Preacher strip off his shirt and get cleaned up with some water from the local creek, I might view those 2 hours a little differently.
The story had some possibilities. Yet, it was too thinly written with one dimensional characters and dialogue I know I have heard way too often. I wasted 2 hours. Now, if they had just had the Preacher strip off his shirt and get cleaned up with some water from the local creek, I might view those 2 hours a little differently.
No comments:
Post a Comment