3 Blind Saints

If Moe, Larry, and Curly had made a Christian comedy, the result might have looked like 3 Blind Saints, a kooky and occasionally poignant story of three middle-aged pals who are arrested while passing through a hick town called Rocky Road. After a judge puts Sam (Richard Speight, Jr.), Jamal (Elijah Rock), and Frankie (Stelio Savante) into the custody of the manipulative Rusty Pickens (Barry Corbin), the trio find themselves forced to do “community service” by playing the new ministers of Rocky Road's only church. Rusty's plan is to have the men keep church services going so he can steal money from Sunday collections. When—against all odds—the guys prove a success at drawing in the generous faithful, the arrangement looks like a win-win. The only problem: Sam falls for a Christian woman (Audrey Matos) and feels terrible both about lying to her and having no faith of his own. Filmmaker John Eschenbaum nicely balances the relationship drama with the funnier side of the ministry business (oddball parishioners, etc.), along with plenty of slapstick antics involving the principals (the most outrageous of which involves an encounter with God in a Teletubbies-like pastoral heaven). Likely to appeal to Christian audiences, this indie effort is recommended. (T. Keogh)