BILL DUKE

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BB.5. 

USA, 1993.  Touchstone Pictures.  Screenplay by James Orr, Jim Cruickshank, Judi Ann Mason, based on characters created by Joseph Howard.  Cinematography by Oliver Wood.  Produced by Scott Rudin, Dawn Steel.  Music by Miles Goodman.  Production Design by John DeCuir Jr..  Costume Design by Francine Jamison-Tanchuck.  Film Editing by John Carter, Pembroke J. Herring, Stuart H. Pappé.

All the fun is gone from the original musical comedy that preceded this uninspired sequel. Whoopi Goldberg is brought back into the fray and asked to don the habit for her sweet-singing sisters, this time as musical teacher to a group of high school kids looking to win a talent competition. Lauryn Hill, later to become famous as a member of the group Fugees followed by a highly successful solo career, here makes a great film debut as one of the most talented in her choir group. The ladies have the same amount of fun clowning around as they did last time, but the story doesn’t gel.