Cuba Gooding Jr. and Beyonce Knowles bring us a rousing film about a gospel choir... too bad it goes straight to hell.
The Fighting Temptations (2003)
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Reviews Counted:105
Fresh:44
Rotten:61
Average Rating:5.4/10
Consensus: The music is the only saving grace in this predictable and eager-to-please comedy.
Runtime: 2 hrs 2 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: Darrin Hill (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) has just lost his job with a New York advertising firm and bill collectors are chasing him all over the city. But just when he thinks his luck has completely run... Darrin Hill (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) has just lost his job with a New York advertising firm and bill collectors are chasing him all over the city. But just when he thinks his luck has completely run out, Darrin discovers he's the only surviving relative of his Aunt Sally who has just left him $150,000.00. Traveling back to his small hometown of Montecarlo, Georgia, to attend the funeral and collect his inheritance, Darrin soon discovers that Sally's written a tiny catch into her will. Her last wish is that her beloved nephew create a choir, enter it in the annual Gospel Explosion and bring home a victory. Between the bickering and the difficulties finding talented singers in the community, not to mention that his heart just isn't into the whole thing, Darrin has his work cut out for him... until he meets Lilly (Beyonce Knowles). A beautiful jazz singer with a voice to match, Lilly awakens feelings in Darrin he didn't know he had. Suddenly, collecting the money or heading back to New York City aren't important anymore, and he realizes that Aunt Sally left him something much more than an inheritance. -- © Paramount Pictures [More]
Starring: Cuba Gooding, Beyonce Knowles, Mike Epps, Latanya Richardson
Starring: Cuba Gooding, Beyonce Knowles, Mike Epps, Latanya Richardson, Steve Harvey, T-Bone, Wendell Pierce, Rue McClanahan
Director: Jonathan Lynn
Director: Jonathan Lynn
Screenwriter: Elizabeth Hunter, Saladin K. Patterson
Producer: David Gale, Loretha C. Jones, Jeff Pollack
Composer: Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, James "Big Jim" Wright
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Reviews for The Fighting Temptations
This film would have been better with a lot more gospel and a lot less Gooding.
Gooding is on a downward spiral, but The Fighting Temptations is at least a step above Snow Dogs and several above the inexcusably offensive Boat Trip.
You may not be dancing in the aisle, but at least you won't be tempted to flee the theater.
Fight the temptation to look for anything more than good music in this movie.
The lack of gross-out moments is refreshing, as is the way that it never sacrifices its character-driven plot to a discordant comic set piece.
This is an exhilarating musical -- but it's dragged into Thumbs Down territory by a dreadful story that creaks along between the rousing gospel numbers.
Crowd-pleasing but shoddy... During a funeral scene, the corpse can clearly be seen breathing...
The first movie this year to deliver sheer musical pleasure from beginning to end.
Cuba Gooding Jr. once again (shows) he and comedy do not belong in the same area code (and, come to think of it, after 'Boat Trip,' did anyone need further evidence?).
Gooding's performance is burdened with an unnecessary complexity that works against its comic potential.
You may or may not believe that gospel music saves the soul of an out of work advertising executive, but it saves the movie and that might be enough to make you say "Amen."
Latest News for The Fighting Temptations
June 14, 2005:
In Other News...the Wayans Bros., Destiny's Child, and Katie Holmes
Watch out, Warner Bros., there might soon be a new WB studio in town -- as in, Wayans Brothers. More...
April 29, 2003:
Bad Cuba Gooding Jr. press be damned! Snow Dogs tallied $81 million, and starring opposite one of the world's biggest pop stars can't hurt. ![]()
More...
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