Watching this again on TV the other night, I couldn't help but noticing how polished and smooth "Sister Act" is--it looks like the perfect sitcom pilot. As a feature film, it seems a little cornball, with a completely unrealistic convent and nuns with different, colorful personalities. They unknowingly welcome a Reno lounge singer into their fold; she's on the lam from her mobster boyfriend (Harvey Keitel, game but looking a little strained). Film plays directly to the audience--after a one-liner, you almost expect a laugh-track; sometimes the sisters themselves provide a united chuckle. Flat at the beginning, Whoopi Goldberg loosens up somewhere in the middle, but she is overdirected and never gets to be human. **1/2 from ****
Review of Sister Act
