The Preacher's Sin (2015) User Reviews

The Unoriginal Sin

[wes-connors · 5/10 · 2 January 2016]

Popular pastor JR Bourne (as Evan Tanning) is on the verge of becoming a house-hold name. His new book "The Godly Parent's Bible" is taking off and his radio talk-show "Family in the Forefront" is about to go national. However, there are a couple of family problems which could tarnish Mr. Bourne's holy image. He and wife Tara Spencer-Nairn (as Lauren) have taken in an orphaned niece who likes to party. Seventeen-year-old Allie Gonino (as Jamie Barringer) also has two-toned green hair and a healthy sexual appetite. High school hunk Glenn Cashin (as Quinton Paul) arouses both Ms. Gonino and her blonde nemesis Stephanie La Rochelle (as Tinsley Traggert). Getting him to bed could prove costly...

Gonino's underage adventures are only half the trouble...

Pastor Bourne is also made aware of a secret from his past, shared by needy young Demi Oliver (as Gabe Roswell). "The Preacher's Sin" is rather minor, if it's even considered a sin. There is possibly a parallel to his 17-year-old niece, who is sexually active and partakes of illegal substances. Your view of whether or not their behavior constitutes sin may be based on your religious belief system. Other characters are more sinful, like devilishly fun preacher's boss Bill Lake (as Bill Traggert). Their stories constitute a good soap opera storyline. There is nothing revelatory here, but you've got to give credit to writer-director Michelle L. Mower and her cast for making the characters engaging.

***** The Preacher's Sin (2015--11-14) Michelle L. Mower ~ JR Bourne, Allie Gonino, Tara Spencer-Nairn, Stephanie La Rochelle

Mature viewing

[drystyx · 7/10 · 12 April 2016]

As of this review, there is only one other review, and it is very accurate. I want to elaborate on some specific points that make me give it a good, but not stellar, rating.

We have two major plots going on at once in the story of a fairly upper class radio evangelist who signs a contract with a hateful, mercantile man who promotes him to go on an expensive tour. One plot is about a son the man had from an affair that enrages his employer, and which he keeps secret. The second is his niece, who is a party girl with a fairly good heart whom he becomes guardian to following her mother's death.

In ways, this is mature, but in ways it seems very insubstantial in the motivations of the protagonist. To most of us, his motives seem very meager in his willingness to succumb to his boss's demands, but that's probably why most of us aren't in high positions.

His motivation to keep his son a secret never really pans out for me, even before his boss demands it be a secret. While his boss seems a bit of a caricature to most of us, I do realize such men do exist in the upper crust, and again this is due to most of us being totally alien to the life style.

The movie does a pretty good job in showing the motivations of the people. I'm not sure it shows enough to persuade ordinary people to accept the protagonist's desire to keep his secret. I know it's a hard thing to tell your wife, but considering what the man preached, it especially seemed necessary. The man was educated enough to know the phrase "oh what a tangle web we weave".

On the other plot of the niece, I don't want to spoil that. It gets very scary, though. The main characters pull this through, and the actors and actresses are good. Some of them are asked to play very shallow and horrible characters, and that takes some guts.

All in all, it was a worth while film.

Family in the Forefront!

[lavatch · 7/10 · 4 November 2020]

In "The Preacher's Secrets" (a.k.a., "A Husband's Confession"), the beleaguered pastor Evan Tanning is constantly under fire. A dedicated leader of a church and a popular talk radio host on the "Family in the Forefront" program, Pastor Tanning has a wayward niece at home. Jamie Lynn Barringer's mother committed suicide and Jamie Lynn is now residing with Pastor Tanning, his wife Lauren, and daughter Sarah. But the pastor's world begins to collapse with a set of overwhelming family problems in which he is supposed to be an expert at handling.

In a subplot that places Pastor Tanning under even greater pressure, he learns that as a result of a fling with fellow recruit Monica Roswell when he was in the army, he became the father of a son. Young Gabe now enters into his life, and the pastor assumes full responsibility for his actions.

One of the most despicable families imaginable becomes the bane of the pastor and his family. Bill and Shayla Taggert and their nasty daughter Tinsley besiege the Tannings from all angles. "Bulldog" Bill is the ruthless manager of the pastor, who believes that he "owns" him. Young Tinsley is the vindictive teen who seeks revenge on Jamie for stealing away Tinsley's beau Quentin. The embittered mother Shayla is always hiding behind a powerful attorney.

Modeling the patience of Job, Pastor Tanning places family above his career. This melodrama is depressing with Jamie Lynn joining her mom in the Heatherwood Cemetery. It nonetheless is a strong character study of a pious man who wins our admiration because he is the embodiment of someone who practices what he preaches.

Pleasantly entertaining with difficult messaging

[blaxblew · 7/10 · 4 February 2023]

This is definitely an entertaining and closer to reality movie than you usually see on Lifetime. One of the first things to think about with this movie is what exactly IS the preacher's sin? As you watch the storyline unravel, there are a few. Most of the characters are pretty well drawn - most. But two of the most important characters are oddly flat I'm going to focus this review on the fumbling of the preachers biggest "sin" if that's what we want to call the miracle of life. On top of some family drama with his wife's niece who moves into the home after the tragic loss of her mother, the preacher finds out he fathered an adult son of his own before he got married. The two most vanilla characters in the entire movie are the two Black characters, the biracial son and his ailing Black mother. The son is uncomfortably forgiving, as is his mother. It gets even worse because the good pastor essentially denies the existence of his son while repeatedly pretending to be a great parent at home and telling the adult child he's there for him - as long as he knows his place as a secret. Even when the boy's mother dies, he doesn't clear time to stay with him through the grieving process. You have to wonder why if he and his wife had such a great relationship he didn't sit down and tell her the truth from the beginning. It's not like the son's a toddler. Was he worried that his wife would lose it because the child was Black, or that he had any child? He literally had to be blackmailed into standing up as a man and publicly admitting that he fathered a Black child. There was a lot to unpack there that frankly should have been at least half the focus of the film.

More complex than the usuals Lifetime thriller

[phd_travel · 8/10 · 14 February 2019]

Almost every other Lifetime movie has been a little straightforward "Wrong" or "Perfect" whatever so this is a slightly different formula. A radio preacher about to become national discovers he has an illegitimate son. He also has an orphaned niece living with him who gets in trouble. Allie Gonino acts well as the niece. She gets involved with a boy but a girl who likes the boy is a psycho. The two intertwined stories are quite involving.