Customer Reviews

Sister Act

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What can I say? This is quite possibly the best movie I have ever seen, and I'm sure I'm not the only one saying this.
The story is about a Reno lounge singer named Deloris Van Cartier (Whoopi Goldberg) whose singing career is going straight down the toilet. But that's before the fateful night when Deloris witnesses her married mobster boyfriend, Vince LaRocca (Harvey Keitel), viciously murder an unloyal employee. She then runs to the police, where they ask her to testify against Vince, but she knows he'll come after her when she does. The police then tell her that they can stash her in the safest place on Earth if she testifies--a convent. Deloris reluctantly agrees, but quickly finds that the convent is no place for a loud Reno lounge singer. But just when it can't get any worse, Deloris discovers the horrible, out-of-synch Sunday choir, and soon realizes she was destined to stumble into this convent.
The cast is brilliant; the hilarious Kathy Najimy stars as the bouncy, always-cheerful Sister Mary Patrick; Wendy Makkena as the awfully shy Sister Mary Robert; Mary Wickes as the spunky, wise-cracking Sister Mary Lazarus, and of course, the legendary Maggie Smith as the ever-stern, yet caring, Reverend Mother. And these aren't the only colorful characters; every nun has their own special personality.
And finally, the essential piece of the Sister Act puzzle, music. Every song performed by the sisters will leave you clapping your hands and wanting more. These include "Hail Holy Queen", "My God", and of course, the famous "I Will Follow Him" finale. There are also catchy, modern songs included in the soundtrack, as well. In other words, if you like the movie, you'll like the music.
As for the plot, in my opinion it's very original and interesting. I have to admit it did slow down a couple of times, but for the most part it was convincing and, to me, very well-written.
Overall, this movie is one the entire family can enjoy and watch over and over again. And when it comes to the bare necessities of a picture, there's "nun too many" or "nun too few" here!

I didn't expect to like this movie when my husband brought it home one Friday night - but I was wrong, wrong, wrong. It's hilarious, uplifting, and entertainint.
Goldberg plays a Reno casino singer who gets in trouble with the mob and hides out disguised as a nun in a teaching convent. Maggie Smith, every twitch and blink in place, plays the mother superior who must cope with Goldberg's high jinks as she energises the convent, its choir, its students, and her own life. And, omigod! The music! You'll want the soundtrack when you've finished watching the movie.
A feel good movie to die for.

Nothing you can buy could make me tell a lie to my God! This is Whoopi's best movie ever! My cousin and I were constantly singing the songs everywhere we went. One my favorite movies of ALL time. I wish they would come out with a DVD that contained more extra features though.

In a tailor-made role, Whoopi Goldberg stars as a Motown lounge-singer in Reno who witness the murder of a chauffeur at the hands of her married boyfriend and mobster, Harvey Kietel. When she goes to the police, they need to hide her some place safe, and they find a place where no one would think to look for the mistress-singer ... a convent. Maggie Smith also stars as the Mother Superior who agrees to shelter the newly christened Sister Mary Clarence, and in the hands of Whoopi, you can guess what happens to their woefully inadequate choir. This is one of those films it's hard not to like. The role was made for Whoopi, and she plays it for all it's worth. The nuns are all cute, the fish out of water story has built in laughs, and the music is terrific - really gets the toes tapping. There's nothing deep or earth shattering here, and thank God for that. It's simply a film about singing out your joy and serving others. In other words, it's a feel good movie and a lot of fun.

One of the things I truly enjoy about Whoopi Goldberg films is that she is always joined by an all-star cast and plots that make the practical actor cringe. Whoopi plays Delores Van Cartier a lounge singer who witnesses a vicious crime commited by her married lover and as a result goes undercover as a nun in order to not be found. But upon arriving at the church she overcomes several obstacles, these include the mean-spirited nun Mother Superior, and trying not to reveal her true identity. Later she joins the nun's musical choir and realizes just how truly bad they are, so the nuns insist that she be the musical instructor, and transforms the bad nun's choir into a hip funky choir that is just out of this world. I give this album five stars because of Whoopi's incredible acting talent, and the movie itself is simply irresistable! If your looking for a movie that will have you on the edge of your seat, and laughing relentlessly, I would definitely recommend this movie to you!

A quirky comedy about a Reno lounge singer hiding under police protection in a San Francisco convent before she testifies to put away her mobster boyfriend. . .and while she's at the convent she takes over the choir, giving the good nuns an edgy sound that attracts neighborhood derelicts to come to mass. . .and not only has the singer transformed the convent (and its stodgy, ultra-conservative mother superior)--the convent has transformed the feisty singer, culminating in an historical performance--before the pope.

Okay: On its face, if someone gives me the above synopsis and then asks if I would like to see such a flick, they would receive an emphatic "No". (After I've stopped laughing, mind you.) Yet fortunately I did not have any preconceived notions of SISTER ACT when I first rented it years and years ago and brought it home, where my kids just ate it up. This is a movie everyone can sit down and enjoy together; it has such a warm charm and feel-good buzz you'll swear there's some divinity going on. Over the years I've watched this movie on several occasions, and it still entertains and charms my curmudgeonly soul.

Ask John Q. Public which movie Whoopi Goldberg is best known for, and I'll bet the farm he'll tell you SISTER ACT. Goldberg is a hoot in the lead role, because here she can be her characteristic over-the-top, and it works. The supporting cast compliments Goldberg handsomely, from Maggie Smith to Harvey Keitel to a vocally-enhanced Kathy Najimy--but most of all Mary Wickes as a good-natured yet grumpy and crusty Sister Lazarus (she steals, then chews up, every scene she's in). Yes, SISTER ACT is lame, silly, and requires a suspension of disbelief akin to scaling Pike's Peak, but I dare you to watch this movie and not have a smile paste itself on your mug.
--D. Mikels, Author, The Reckoning

This movie is Fun, Fun, FUN! The music is irresistible and it delivers laughs every minute. The story follows a low-rent casino singer, Deloris Van Cartier (Whoopi), who witnesses her mobster boyfriend, Vince LaRocca (Harvey Keitel) muder an employee. She goes straight to the police, who hide her from Vince in a convent while preparing for his trial. The Mother Superior (Maggie Smith), puts up with Deloris's unorthodox behavior long enough for her to turn the convent's chior into a swinging, soulfull hit. But when the group gets rave reviews, Vince and his goons go hunting for Deloris. Will they find her?
This movie is purely halarious! Whoopi and Maggie Smith are brilliant, and all of the acting is awesome! The music is toe-tapping (you must buy the soundtrack), and the story is fun! You must watch this movie!

What do you do when you witness you boyfriend killing someone? Go into witness protection at a convent. Lounge singer Deloris becomes Sister Mary Clarence. But when Sister Mary Clarence is Whoopi Goldberg expect a lot of attitude.

Delores finds it hard adjusting to convent life. That is until she gets her hands on the choir. She turns a mediocre off key group into a hip ensemble. This draws too much attention and her mobster boyfriend finds her. This ends up in a wild chase by the Sisters through a Las Vegas casino.

Maggie Smith is always a good choice for any role but she is wasted a bit as the Mother Superior. The best supporting roles goes to the three sidekick nuns Mary Patrick, Mary Roberts, Mary Lazarus - Kathy Najimy, newcomer Wendy Makkena and the proverbial nun Mary Wickes (this is her third of four times as basically the same character and she ended her career as a gargoyle on Notre Dame.)

This is a sit back and enjoy film, no messages, not much to think about.

DVD EXTRAS:
Inside Sister Act - A very standard 12 minute making of featurette with director Emile Arolino, the sisters Mary Wickes, Kathy Najimy and Wendy Makkena and star Whoopi Goldberg.

Music Videos - If My Sister's in Trouble by Lady Soul and I Will Follow Him by Delores and the Sisters.

GWTW they aren't but there is some fabulous music in both. I don't think that they were meant to be serious. I think I actually liked the 2 better.SA2 made me cry when they won. These are just great movies and a way to lift your spirits

"Sister Act" is one of the funniest and best made films of the early 1990's. Starring Whoopi Goldberg as Delores Van Cartier, (a lounge singer working in a Reno, Nevada casino) the film begins with a flashback showing a young and irreverent Delores in a Catholic parochial school being reprimanded by a nun after giving the names of the Beatles for the names of the apostles. The nun warns Delores that she won't amount to much if she maintains her poor attitude.

Returning to the present, we see the hapless Delores and her two back-up singers performing before a mostly empty audience in a Reno casino. Unhappy with her career and her married boyfriend, Vince LaRocca (played by Harvey Keitel), Delores decides to leave, but Vince appeases her by giving her a mink coat. When Delores discovers that the coat actually belongs to his wife, she tromps over to Vince's office, where she unwittingly sees Vince shoot one of his employees. Sadly, Delores' unfortunate appearance did not go unnoticed as Vince orders his henchmen to get Delores. She bolts out of Vince's office and into the casino where she manages to escape and flees to the police.

Now knowing that her exboyfriend Vince is a gangster, police lieutenant Eddie Souther (played by Bill Nunn), tells Delores that she must enter the witness protection program to be safe until she can testify against Vince. Eddie takes Delores to San Francisco so that she can assume her new identity as a nun in a convent.

After Eddie leaves, the very unhappy Delores cannot hide her horror of being a nun and Mother Superior (played by Maggie Smith) is not thrilled with the situation either. You can't help but laugh while watching Mother Superior's attempts to find a suitable place for Delores (now known as Sister Mary Clarence) within the convent or Delores' disgust with "looking like a penguin," as she puts it. Meanwhile, two of the convent's nuns, Sister Mary Patrick (played by Kathy Najimy) and Sister Mary Robert (played by Wendy Makkena) become endeared with Sister Mary Clarence.

Mother Superior finally decides to have Sister Mary Clarence join the convent's inharmonic choir, which has been under the tutelage of Sister Mary Lazurus, who was played by Mary Wickes. This wasn't the first time that Mary Wickes portrayed a nun: she also portrayed Sister Clarissa in the films "The Trouble with Angels" in 1966 and its sequel "Where Angels Go Trouble Follows" in 1968.

Will Delores find a way to survive life in the convent and bring harmony to the choir? Will Mother Superior be able to keep her sanity in tact? Will Vince find where Delores is hiding? To answer these questions, sit back, watch this film and be prepared to laugh!

The film's rendering on DVD and sound quality are both very good. The DVD includes a few extras: the film's trailor and two music videos that were released with the film.