I'm in Love With a Church Girl - D

Rated PG, 118 minutes

Third-rate "Church Girl" delivers honorable message, little else

Adrienne Bailon and Ja Rule

"I'm in Love With a Church Girl" highlights the struggle between good and bad, but mostly shows how a bad movie with a good message can be made. Miles Montego (rapper Ja Rule) has it all: money, women and a large house. As a former drug dealer, he's trying to move on, but the DEA (led by Stephen Baldwin) isn't convinced since he still hangs with some of his former colleagues. He falls in love with a Christian girl ("Cheetah Girls" Adrienne Bailon) and his life changes, though he struggles to let go of his past. Produced and written by pastor Galley Molina and based on his own experiences, "I'm in Love With a Church Girl" (filmed in 2010 and sitting on the shelf awaiting distribution) is about the struggles we have with faith, though it also shows the struggle with films like this to get made, with limited budget, casting and serious lack of decent production values. "Church Girl" has those same third-rate values, though unlike some of those other films it does feature a handful of known performers, including Ja Rule, Bailon, Baldwin, Vincent Pastore and a blink-you'll-miss-it-cameo from Tarantino veteran Michael Madsen. While most of those performers have their own following, the appeal is still limited to the church-going set, who will likely get the most out of this and not care how awful the script, direction and acting truly are, in spite of two charming leads who try their best given the laughable, maudlin  material. Molina, who cameos in the film and has a mostly honorable message (the use of a Lamborghini is of questionable theology, though), can't be faulted for wanting to get his testimony of how God changed his life to a wider audience, but "I'm in Love With a Church Girl," while it nails the good values message down, needs better cinematic values to win more converts to faith-based movies like this. I would recommend trying straight-to-DVD next time. Could be an interesting double feature with this week's horror remake "Carrie."

Wes's Grade: D