Opens
Friday, Sept. 19
Director Jonathan Lynn plants the spotlight firmly on the singing in "The Fighting Temptations". It would be a waste to do otherwise, with such powerhouses of R&B, gospel and hip-hop on board as Beyonce Knowles, the O'Jays, Melba Moore, Faith Evans, the Rev. Shirley Caesar, Montell Jordan and T-Bone. Exuberant musical numbers and comic characters bolster the film's time-honored premise: Small-town native reconnects with his roots after a spell in the big, cold city.
This culture-clash romantic comedy, scripted by Elizabeth Hunter and Saladin K. Patterson, goes exactly where you'd expect, but helmer Lynn, a comedy vet, gets it there with such infectious energy that you don't much mind the story's predictability. The pairing of Cuba Gooding Jr. and Knowles, who is natural and confident in a more down-to-earth role than her screen debut as Foxxy Cleopatra in "Austin Powers in Goldmember", generates a believable friction/attraction. Gooding makes a credible linchpin to the shenanigans -- and his dance moves are a joy to behold. His marquee clout and the draw of the many musicians on hand will ensure harmonious, if not chart-busting, boxoffice returns for Paramount.
Gooding plays Darrin, an up-and-coming New York ad exec saddled with credit card bills. His rise through the corporate ranks has rested in part on a loose way with the facts. Yes, he attended Yale -- but he was kicked out for faking an Andover diploma. And yes, he grew up in Monte Carlo -- that being the name of the Georgia town where he spent the first five years of his life. He and his mother (Evans) hit the road when she was forced out of the church choir for her "secular" R&B singing.
Darrin finds himself on the train back to the Southern burg and that very same Beulah Baptist Church. At loose ends after being fired for his fabrications ("We're in advertising!" he responds with deadpan amazement), he's summoned back for the funeral of his Aunt Sally, his only relative since his mother died.
After a rousing musical tribute at the funeral, led by Caesar, Darrin learns that he'll inherit his great-aunt's stock holdings, worth $150,000, if he assumes her work as director of the Beulah choir and leads it to a victory in the regional Gospel Explosion. Debt-strapped Darrin has all the motivation he needs. And the Rev. Lewis (Wendell Pierce) could sure use the $10,000 contest prize to make desperately needed repairs on the church.
Challenging Darrin every step of the way is the bossy, universally despised Paulina (LaTanya Richardson), the woman who instigated Darrin's mother's ejection from the church back in 1980. Now she has turned her jealous attention to Lilly (Knowles), single mother, soulful singer and, in Paulina's eyes, an "unrepentant sinner." Lilly's a woman of strong inner resources, and she's on to Darrin every step of the way as he woos her to join the choir and rekindle their childhood romance.
It turns out the choir that raised the roof at Sally's funeral was just visiting, and Darrin, who's passing himself off as a record producer but doesn't know an upbeat from a downbeat, has six weeks to shape the town's singers into a competition-worthy gospel group. Auditions produce a string of astoundingly bad performers, and eventually the call goes out even to atheists. The final lineup includes a trio of prison inmates, among them the falsetto-voiced Jordan and the speed-rapping T-Bone, and the town's barbers (the O'Jays, who perform a swinging version of "Loves Me Like a Rock").
Among the many colorful residents of Monte Carlo, Mike Epps and Steve Harvey deliver standout comic turns. Production and costume design capture the feel of a real community while underscoring the spirited playfulness of the material. It will surprise no one that comeuppance and reward are delivered to the appropriate parties or that Darrin learns the errors of his deceptive ways and find true happiness -- that is "The Great Gatsby" he's reading in an early scene.
THE FIGHTING TEMPTATIONS
Paramount Pictures
MTV Films
Credits:
Director: Jonathan Lynn
Screenwriters: Elizabeth Hunter, Saladin K. Patterson
Producers: David Gale, Loretha Jones, Jeff Pollack
Executive producers: Van Toffler, Benny Medina
Director of photography: Affonso Beato
Production designer: Victoria Paul
Music: Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, James "Big Jim" Wright
Executive music producers: Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, James "Big Jim" Wright, Loretha Jones
Co-producers: Susan Lewis, Momita Sengupta
Costume designers: Mary Jane Fort, Tracey A. White
Editor: Paul Hirsch
Cast:
Darrin Hill: Cuba Gooding Jr.
Lilly: Beyonce Knowles
Lucius: Mike Epps
Maryann Hill: Faith Evans
Miles Smoke: Steve Harvey
the Rev. Lewis: Wendell Pierce
Paulina: LaTanya Richardson
Bill: Dave Sheridan
Alma: Angie Stone
Nancy: Rue McClanahan
Bessie: Melba Moore
Aunt Sally: Ann Nesby
Homer: Lou Myers
Scooter: Mickey Jones
Johnson: Montell Jordan
Bee-Z Briggs: T-Bone
Lightfoot: Chris Cole
Rosa: Lourdes Benedicto
Mr. Fairchild: Dakin Matthews
Frank: Walter Williams Sr.
Samuel: Eric Nolan Grant
As Themselves: the Rev. Shirley Caesar, the Blind Boys of Alabama
Running time -- 123 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
Friday, Sept. 19
Director Jonathan Lynn plants the spotlight firmly on the singing in "The Fighting Temptations". It would be a waste to do otherwise, with such powerhouses of R&B, gospel and hip-hop on board as Beyonce Knowles, the O'Jays, Melba Moore, Faith Evans, the Rev. Shirley Caesar, Montell Jordan and T-Bone. Exuberant musical numbers and comic characters bolster the film's time-honored premise: Small-town native reconnects with his roots after a spell in the big, cold city.
This culture-clash romantic comedy, scripted by Elizabeth Hunter and Saladin K. Patterson, goes exactly where you'd expect, but helmer Lynn, a comedy vet, gets it there with such infectious energy that you don't much mind the story's predictability. The pairing of Cuba Gooding Jr. and Knowles, who is natural and confident in a more down-to-earth role than her screen debut as Foxxy Cleopatra in "Austin Powers in Goldmember", generates a believable friction/attraction. Gooding makes a credible linchpin to the shenanigans -- and his dance moves are a joy to behold. His marquee clout and the draw of the many musicians on hand will ensure harmonious, if not chart-busting, boxoffice returns for Paramount.
Gooding plays Darrin, an up-and-coming New York ad exec saddled with credit card bills. His rise through the corporate ranks has rested in part on a loose way with the facts. Yes, he attended Yale -- but he was kicked out for faking an Andover diploma. And yes, he grew up in Monte Carlo -- that being the name of the Georgia town where he spent the first five years of his life. He and his mother (Evans) hit the road when she was forced out of the church choir for her "secular" R&B singing.
Darrin finds himself on the train back to the Southern burg and that very same Beulah Baptist Church. At loose ends after being fired for his fabrications ("We're in advertising!" he responds with deadpan amazement), he's summoned back for the funeral of his Aunt Sally, his only relative since his mother died.
After a rousing musical tribute at the funeral, led by Caesar, Darrin learns that he'll inherit his great-aunt's stock holdings, worth $150,000, if he assumes her work as director of the Beulah choir and leads it to a victory in the regional Gospel Explosion. Debt-strapped Darrin has all the motivation he needs. And the Rev. Lewis (Wendell Pierce) could sure use the $10,000 contest prize to make desperately needed repairs on the church.
Challenging Darrin every step of the way is the bossy, universally despised Paulina (LaTanya Richardson), the woman who instigated Darrin's mother's ejection from the church back in 1980. Now she has turned her jealous attention to Lilly (Knowles), single mother, soulful singer and, in Paulina's eyes, an "unrepentant sinner." Lilly's a woman of strong inner resources, and she's on to Darrin every step of the way as he woos her to join the choir and rekindle their childhood romance.
It turns out the choir that raised the roof at Sally's funeral was just visiting, and Darrin, who's passing himself off as a record producer but doesn't know an upbeat from a downbeat, has six weeks to shape the town's singers into a competition-worthy gospel group. Auditions produce a string of astoundingly bad performers, and eventually the call goes out even to atheists. The final lineup includes a trio of prison inmates, among them the falsetto-voiced Jordan and the speed-rapping T-Bone, and the town's barbers (the O'Jays, who perform a swinging version of "Loves Me Like a Rock").
Among the many colorful residents of Monte Carlo, Mike Epps and Steve Harvey deliver standout comic turns. Production and costume design capture the feel of a real community while underscoring the spirited playfulness of the material. It will surprise no one that comeuppance and reward are delivered to the appropriate parties or that Darrin learns the errors of his deceptive ways and find true happiness -- that is "The Great Gatsby" he's reading in an early scene.
THE FIGHTING TEMPTATIONS
Paramount Pictures
MTV Films
Credits:
Director: Jonathan Lynn
Screenwriters: Elizabeth Hunter, Saladin K. Patterson
Producers: David Gale, Loretha Jones, Jeff Pollack
Executive producers: Van Toffler, Benny Medina
Director of photography: Affonso Beato
Production designer: Victoria Paul
Music: Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, James "Big Jim" Wright
Executive music producers: Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, James "Big Jim" Wright, Loretha Jones
Co-producers: Susan Lewis, Momita Sengupta
Costume designers: Mary Jane Fort, Tracey A. White
Editor: Paul Hirsch
Cast:
Darrin Hill: Cuba Gooding Jr.
Lilly: Beyonce Knowles
Lucius: Mike Epps
Maryann Hill: Faith Evans
Miles Smoke: Steve Harvey
the Rev. Lewis: Wendell Pierce
Paulina: LaTanya Richardson
Bill: Dave Sheridan
Alma: Angie Stone
Nancy: Rue McClanahan
Bessie: Melba Moore
Aunt Sally: Ann Nesby
Homer: Lou Myers
Scooter: Mickey Jones
Johnson: Montell Jordan
Bee-Z Briggs: T-Bone
Lightfoot: Chris Cole
Rosa: Lourdes Benedicto
Mr. Fairchild: Dakin Matthews
Frank: Walter Williams Sr.
Samuel: Eric Nolan Grant
As Themselves: the Rev. Shirley Caesar, the Blind Boys of Alabama
Running time -- 123 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 9/29/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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