The Fighting Temptations (2003)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

Jonathan Lynn

Writers (WGA):

Elizabeth Hunter (story)
Elizabeth Hunter (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

19 September 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Music | Romance

Tagline:

She was one temptation, he couldn't resist

Plot:

A New York advertising executive travels to a small Southern town to collect an inheritance but finds he must create a gospel choir and lead it to success before he can collect.

Plot Keywords:

Advertising | Gospel Choir | Single Mother | Funeral | Georgia USA

Awards:

4 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Nigel Washington	...	Little Darrin
Chloe Bailey	...	Little Lilly
Demetress Long	...	Church Usher
Ann Nesby	...	Aunt Sally Walker
Faith Evans	...	Maryann Hill
Melba Moore	...	Bessie Cooley
Rosalie Washington	...	Faye Jenkins
Ricky Dillard	...	Choir Director
Larry John Meyers	...	Homer T. (as L. John Myers)
Shirley Caesar	...	Herself (as Reverend Shirley Caesar)
LaTanya Richardson	...	Paulina Pritchett
Wendell Pierce	...	Reverend Lewis
Lou Myers	...	Homer T.
Cuba Gooding Jr.	...	Darrin Hill
Lourdes Benedicto	...	Rosa Lopez

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sexual references.

Runtime:

123 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:PG-13 (certificate #39769) | Malaysia:U | Australia:PG (DVD rating) | New Zealand:M | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Brazil:12 | Canada:PG | Germany:o.Al. | Netherlands:AL | Norway:A | Philippines:G | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Georgia, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

The film started out as a project for Sean "P.Diddy" Combs.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the final performance of the movie, the convict with the high-pitched voice is singing, and is free of his cuffs and chains. Then later, during the credits, he can be seen with his restraints on.

Quotes:

Darrin Hill: Your act is terrific.
Lilly: Yours needs a lot of work.

Movie Connections:

References "Behind the Music" (1997)

Soundtrack:

Angry Rap

White 2 Black

To my surprise, this was not a movie about the Temptations.

This is one of those cute "black" movies that makes white people wish they were black so they could have so much fun -- and I don't necessarily mean that in a cynical way. Others that come to mind are "The Preacher's Wife", "The Five Heartbeats"... I like movies like this, if only for relief from always seeing the same white actors on screen.

Of course, just like all Hollywood movies, it is total fantasy, and this one even more so seeing as it it was made by MTV (just check out the number of deleted music sequences on the DVD!).

And if you love gospel music (even some who don't), you will love this movie, despite the fact that it looks like the songs were written first and a script later to patch them all together, taking many shameless cues from "Sister Act" -- both One and Two.

The script is pretty lame in many parts -- mostly with Cuba Gooding's lines -- and the punch depends on the goings-on of mostly bit parts. LaTanya Richards as Paulina is extremely convincing as the self-righteous church treasurer, but there are no really strong protagonists (the only one around dies in the first fifteen minutes) so she pretty much controls the plot single- handedly.

The movie is all about cameos. Cameos, cameos cameos!! Even Shirley Caeser plays (who else?) herself ! ! They might as well have called Beyonce Beyonce and Cuba Cuba.

One other good thing I can say for the movie is the positive mixing of races it shows, among so many movies that tend to show mainly conflict among them. In my experience, the kind of mixing as shown in this movie is the real world, rather than the 99.9% black "Preacher's Wife", or for that matter 100% whiteness of so many movies. Sure, it may be fantasy (there is absolutely no racial tension present in this movie despite so much mingling), but I root for the positive image it projects.

If you are a cynic, this movie is not for you, but if you need some warm fuzzies, go for it!