The Second Chance

A well-to-do preacher at a rich suburban church (Michael W. Smith) goes to work—reluctantly—at the inner-city church where his famous evangelist father got his start; but the local African-American pastor (Jeff Obafemi Carr) resents the rich white boy and his slumming condescension. Notwithstanding full credit for honesty and good intentions, and for the sincere acting of the principal players, the script by Chip Arnold, Ben Pearson and director Steve Taylor is a little too long on predictability and too short on engaging drama, with loose ends among the plot threads and an ending that manages somehow to be both pat and inconclusive. Taylor draws some surprisingly restrained performances from his largely inexperienced cast, although Pearson’s awkward cinematography is another distraction.