Woman, Thou Art Loosed

Time magazine called Dallas televangelist T.D. Jakes "Oprah in a pulpit," but his folksy sermons about healing and his silky voice and attire more accurately resemble a blend of Dr. Phil and Barry White. On break from saving souls while stamping across stage in a flashy mustard-colored suit, Jakes now stars as himself in this vanity project about a bearish preacher visiting an African-American girl (Elise) on death row for murder. Whether the actors are delivering earnest soliloquies directly to the camera or acting out the overwrought melodrama, the film never once captures the gritty realism it requires.