Predictable but oh my what music!
The Fighting Temptations (2003)
Tomatometer
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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
The only real question in this flaccid narrative ... is when everybody will stop talking and start singing again.
The filmmakers seem to have meant to offer up a spiritual message about community and faith, but it's muddled and hard to find with romance, comedy and phenomenal gospel performances all fighting for the spotlight.
Has practically nothing to recommend it save its music: Take that away and Jonathan Lynn's movie is as ordinary as an unsold TV pilot episode. But what music.
I've looked forward to Cuba Gooding Jr. movies as eagerly as I anticipate SPAM, but The Fighting Temptations breaks his streak of crumminess.
If you're a gospel lover, you can probably overlook the technical flaws, especially if you see it in a crowded and enthusiastic theater.
The Fighting Temptations exists for its rousing gospel soundtrack, which is at times so good that you can forgive the movie its flaws.
Can this career be saved? After watching The Fighting Temptations, you may feel that Cuba Gooding Jr.'s may not.
The story is slapdash and most of the jokes are lame, but music by the Reverend Shirley Caesar and the Blind Boys of Alabama lends fleeting touches of a grace that's, um, amazing.
It's not graceful. It's not smart. But it's sweet and cute, and that will do until a real romantic comedy comes along.
Gooding is off key and mugs and plops like a second-rate sitcom actor.
A messy, sprawling family barbecue of a movie that barely gets by on salesmanship, energy and maybe more than a little chicanery.
When Gooding and Knowles appear together, they drain off energy like batteries hooked in reverse.
A raucous gospel comedy that's as broad as co-star Beyonce Knowles' vowels and chockablock with foot-stomping, up-with-the-choir music that will have even atheists praising the Lord.
Its musical sequences could make the most hardened atheist want to go to church.
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. ![]()
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