Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (PG, 1993)

SISTER ACT 2: BACK IN THE HABIT reunites the hip, fast-talking, heart-of-gold Las Vegas singer, Deloris Van Cartier (Whoopi Goldberg) with the good-hearted nuns from the original Sister Act. The nuns desperately need Deloris' talent and smarts to inspire the joyless, unmotivated students in their San Francisco parochial high school. Deloris thus finds herself once again masquerading as Sister Mary Clarence, just as St. Francis School is about to be shut down. Will Sister Mary Clarence be able to uncover the amazing hidden talent in her classroom of underachievers? Will that talent soar in a state competition and save the school?

Foregoing the mobster-themed, witness-protection angle of the original comic Sister Act, this sequel is crime-free, villain-free and, unfortunately, comparatively comedy-free. The story moves along with the thinnest of plots (most complications are based on convenient eavesdropping or obvious misunderstanding). Trite characters find themselves in trite situations.

Whoopi Goldberg's energy and enjoyment, however, are contagious. And the wide variety of music, performed with zest and sparkle by the young performers, at least makes the movie watchable. (Lauryn Hill, before her breakout success with The Fugees and then as a solo artist, is the lead student-singer.)

Studio: Touchstone Pictures
Director: Bill Duke
Cast: Kathy Najimy, Maggie Smith, Whoopi Goldberg
Genre: Comedy
Run time: 107 minutes
Theatrical release: December 10, 1993
DVD release: January 18, 2000
MPAA Rating: PG
MPAA explanation: some mild language