Psycho's Movie Reviews #85: Sister Act (1992)

Sister Act is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Emile Ardolino and written by Paul Rudnick (as Joseph Howard), with musical arrangements by Marc Shaiman. It stars Whoopi Goldberg as a lounge singer forced to join a convent after being placed in a witness protection program. It also features Maggie Smith, Kathy Najimy, Wendy Makkena, Mary Wickes, and Harvey Keitel.

Sister Act was one of the more financially successful comedies of the early 1990s, grossing $231 million worldwide. The film spawned a franchise, which consists of the 1993 sequel Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit and a musical adaptation, which premiered in 2006. A remake of Sister Act is in the works. On December 7, 2018, it was confirmed that Regina Y. Hicks and Karin Gist were hired to write the script to Sister Act 3 to be released on Disney+.

Plot:

In 1968, Deloris Wilson is a young Catholic school student, who is less than serious about her studies, greatly embarrassing her nun teachers.

Twenty-four years later, in 1992, Deloris is a lounge singer in Reno, Nevada, performing as Deloris Van Cartier. After she witnesses her gangster boyfriend Vince LaRocca execute an informant, police lieutenant Eddie Souther places her in witness protection. She is brought to Saint Katherine's Convent in Saint Katherine's Parish, in a run-down neighborhood in San Francisco. Deloris initially objects, then relents.

The head nun of St. Katherine's, "Reverend Mother", also objects to taking Deloris in but Monsignor O'Hara, the local parish priest, convinces her to go along with it as the police will pay the failing convent a good sum of money to do so. Disguised as "Sister Mary Clarence", Deloris initially has difficulty dealing with the rigid and simple convent life but befriends the other nuns, (Sister Mary Patrick, the elderly Sister Mary Lazarus and the Novice Sister Mary Robert). One night, after a poorly attended Sunday Mass, with a lackluster performance from the convent choir, led by Mary Lazarus, Deloris sneaks out to a bar, followed by Mary Patrick and Mary Robert. They are caught by the Reverend Mother, who orders Deloris join the struggling choir. With her singing experience, Deloris is elected their director and transforms the choir.

At the next Sunday Mass, Deloris leads the much-improved choir in a traditional hymn, then shifts into a combined Gospel and Rock and Roll interpretation. Although Reverend Mother is infuriated, Monsignor O'Hara congratulates their unorthodox performance for attracting new people to the service. Convinced by Deloris, he allows the nuns to clean the church and the neighborhood. Their singing and efforts to revitalize the neighborhood attract media attention, and the parish starts to thrive.

Souther chastises Deloris for nearly being exposed on national television as Vince has placed a bounty on her head. She assures him she will try to keep a lower profile and Souther attends a Mass. The nun's choir continues to amaze parishioners and visitors, especially with a rendition of "My Guy" – rewritten and performed as "My God".

O'Hara informs the convent that Pope John Paul II, having heard of the choir's success, will visit the church. Deloris tells Reverend Mother that Vince's upcoming trial means she will soon leave; the Mother reveals she has resigned as abbess, believing she is no longer useful to the convent as her authority was undermined. Deloris tries to convince her to stay but the Mother retorts that she believes herself too old-fashioned and incapable to continue in office.

Souther discovers a corrupt detective in his own department, who has given Deloris' location to Vince and rushes to San Francisco to warn her. She and Mary Robert are kidnapped by Vince's men but Deloris helps her escape. Afterward, Reverend Mother reveals to the nuns that Sister Mary Clarence is Deloris Van Cartier explains why she had been hiding in their convent. They decide to rescue Deloris, requesting a helicopter pilot to fly them to Reno.

Vince orders his men to kill Deloris but they cannot bring themselves to shoot her dressed in a nun's habit. Arriving at Vince's casino, the nuns find her after she escapes from Vince's men. They become trapped in the casino lounge and Deloris prepares to sacrifice herself. Vince is hesitant, but prepares to shoot her. His hesitation is just long enough for Souther to arrest them.

Thanking Deloris for her actions, Reverend Mother decides to remain as abbess of the convent. Returning to San Francisco, the choir, led by Deloris, sing "I Will Follow Him" to a packed audience in a refurbished Saint Katherine's, receiving a standing ovation from all, including the Pope, Monsignor O'Hara, and Souther. Deloris continues to guide and coach the choir as a touring musical group.

Production:

Screenwriter Paul Rudnick pitched Sister Act to producer Scott Rudin in 1987, with Bette Midler in mind for the lead role. The script was brought to Disney. However, Midler turned down the role, fearing that her fans would not want to see her play a nun. Eventually, Whoopi Goldberg signed on to play the lead. As production commenced, the script was rewritten by a half dozen screenwriters, including Carrie Fisher, Robert Harling, and Nancy Meyers. With the movie no longer resembling his original script, Rudnick asked to be credited with a pseudonym in the film, deciding on Joseph Howard.

The church in which Deloris takes sanctuary is St. Paul's Catholic Church, located at Valley and Church Streets in Noe Valley, an upper-middle-class neighborhood of San Francisco. The storefronts on the opposite side of the street were redressed to give the appearance of a run-down neighborhood. Filming took place from September 23, 1991 to December 20, 1991.

Though the order of the nuns in the film is said to be a Carmelite one by Sister Mary Patrick, their religious habit is similar in appearance to that of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis (minus the cross). Members of the real-life Order, however, no longer wear their traditional habit.

Soundtrack:

The film's soundtrack was released by Hollywood Records on June 9, 1992, in conjunction with the film, and contained the musical numbers performed by actors in the film itself, pre-recorded songs that were used as part of the background music, and instrumental music composed by Marc Shaiman for the film. The soundtrack album debuted at #74 and eventually reached #40 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart where it charted for 54 weeks. The album received a Gold certification from the RIAA for shipment of 500,000 copies on January 13, 1993. The album was certified platinum in Australia.

1. "The Lounge Medley" ("(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave"/"My Guy"/"I Will Follow Him") — Deloris & The Ronelles

2. "Rescue Me" — Fontella Bass

3. "Hail Holy Queen" — Deloris & The Sisters

4. "Roll With Me Henry" — Etta James

5. "Gravy for My Mashed Potatoes" — Dee Dee Sharp

6. "My Guy (My God)" — Deloris & The Sisters

7. "Just a Touch of Love (Everyday)" — C+C Music Factory

8. "Finale: I Will Follow Him ('Chariot')" — Deloris & The Sisters

9. "Shout" — Deloris & The Sisters & The Ronelles

10. "If My Sister's in Trouble" — Lady Soul

• The singing voice for the character of Mary Robert was performed by Andrea Robinson.

Release/Reception/Box Office:

The film received a generally positive reception from critics, holding a 74% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 27 reviews. The site's consensus states: "Looking for a sweet musical comedy about a witness to a crime hiding out from killers in a convent? There's nun better than Sister Act." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave Sister Act 2.5 stars out of a possible 4. He wrote that Goldberg and Wickes both offered humorous performances but the film overall "plays like a missed opportunity" due to slow pacing and trouble integrating the organized crime scenes into a comedy film. Metacritic gave the film a score of 51 based on the 23 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

The film was a box-office success, grossing $139.6 million in the U.S. and $92 million in other countries, effectively grossing $231.6 million worldwide, becoming the eighth-highest-grossing film worldwide in 1992. It sat at the #2 spot for four weeks, behind Lethal Weapon 3, Patriot Games and Batman Returns in succession.

My Review:

I really like this movie and the sequel, this one being the better movie. The third act is silly perhaps, and the crime subplot could have been a little better handled. However, a lot of things make this movie terrific and very entertaining.

I just love the songs, they are so upbeat and joyful, and they are wonderfully staged and sung. The nuns are great to watch, they are sweet, innocent and so easy to fall in love with. Whoopi Goldberg is absolutely terrific in the lead, she really gives it her all and it comes through loud and clear. Whoopi kills it as “Sister Mary Clarence” and really brands this movie with her style of comedy. The movie does start a bit slow, but picks up once Mary Clarence joins the choir. This is one of the first soundtracks I bought after I first watched this movie and I feel that the music is the biggest highlight of the film. I love Sister Mary Patrick played by Kathy Najimy, and I could relate to the timidness Sister Mary Robert played by Wendy Makkena. Apparently when she sings in the film, the singing voice wasn’t her but Andrea Robinson, which is sad I genuinely thought that was her voice. Her voice still gives me chills during the movie though! The film looks great too, goes at a good pace and has a decent story and funny and charming script. Also, the direction is competent, and Maggie Smith is a welcome presence.

Honestly, I know about the sequel and have seen it a few times, it's not that bad. It's a decent sequel, not as good as the original like but still good.

Overall, I highly recommend this film if you wanna good laugh and a sing-song; therefore I bless this film with a 8/10.

{Oh and another thing, this movie ripped Spy Hard off hard - it came out before Sister Act - because there's a scene where Leslie Nielson is disguised as a Nun and sneaks into this building where the enemies are - and they have Nun with guns for guard I kid you not - and he comes across a small choir. Leslie then conducts them and they all start singing 'Shout' which I believed featured on the soundtrack to Sister Act as well}.