User reviews

I can not believe I almost forgot to write about this film. It was a rare one that I really enjoyed. It had some funny moments and some great music. Now I'm not saying this movie was perfect b/c it was far from it but it was very entertaining and sometimes that is what a movie is supposed to be. The acting was okay and Beyonce is not bad at acting and is great at singing. The plot was nothing monumental but it dealt with something my wife was actually going through at the time. I will definitely own this movie.

Excellent gospel music and some other musical gems highlight this otherwise poor excuse for a film. The music is as good as it gets. So good I just might buy my first gospel cd ever. But the goods stop there, with the possible exception of Beyonce who manages a decent acting performance to go with some superb vocals. Actually, the supporting cast is likable for the most part and do an okay job. However, Cuba Gooding Jr. was completely abysmal, almost as bad as the screenplay. The story itself is implausible, the jokes are stale and the dialogue is boring. Yet, the music was so much fun, I am glad that I saw it and would recommend it to others. Just fast forward through all parts where they are not singing. Believe me you won't miss anything worth seeing.

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!

High-class New York advertising executive Cuba Gooding, Jr. is fired for lying on his resume (firing someone for that is about as dumb as firing someone for killing a cockroach). Immediately following that he learns that his elderly aunt has died. He decides to go back to the town of his youth, a place he has always been ashamed of, and finds out that she wanted him to take over the job of conducting the choir in the local Baptist Church. Gooding does not show much interest until he learns that $150,000 is involved. Thus he passes himself off as a musical specialist with hit-and-miss comedic results. Beyonce Knowles sizzles, as she always seems to do, as a cocktail bar singer who has been banned from the congregation for having a child out of wedlock. Needless to say, the choir needs her though and it becomes apparent that Gooding needs her as well. Wendell Pierce is impressive as the church's minister and his annoying sister (LaTanya Richardson) ends up being the villain here. Lots of energy from the cast and some admittedly great vocals are not enough to endear "The Fighting Temptations". The main problems are Gooding's uneven character (it is hard to always like him) and a seemingly endless running time (going just over two hours, too long for a movie like this). Knowles is the greatest reason to watch. She downs Pepsi Colas and sings her heart out with vigor and intensity. 2.5 out of 5 stars.

The song and dance and high energy expressions of faith and joy were a delight-- too bad the plot didn't have as much going for it.

Cuba Gooding is a remarkably talented guy, as in fact, were many of the cast members... the script just didn't give them much to work with. The plot is predictable and formulaic-- which isn't necessarily a terrible thing if it never-the-less shows you a really good time anyway. This movie tries to, but just falls flat whenever the music stops.

It was worth watching for the rousing good music, but certainly not something I feel any need to add to my dvd collection and ever watch again.

This is one of Cuba Gooding's best performances in years. Mr. Gooding has been on a dry run since his Oscar win in the supporting category for Tom Cruise's famous line-Show me the money!

This is basically a fun film. Cuba Gooding, recently fired from his job, returns to Georgia for the funeral of his beloved Aunt Sally. That funeral scene in the church is just memorably realized.

Gooding captures the part of the not so competent worker, with a kind and understanding heart.

He can keep the inheritance providing that he does something is an old Hollywood line. This time, it's the taking up of the choir.

LaTanya Richardson gives a stoic performance as the holier than thou choir leader who looks to trip the Gooding character up so that she can maintain her position. She is just great as one who preaches reverence but has strayed herself.

Beyonce Knowles belts it out. Of course, her rendition of fever can't be compared to that of the great Peggy Lee.

This movie is a very sloppy one. The story is filled with some unlikely events and characters and the directing and especially editing is seriously flawed mostly. Still thanks to its music, this movie still has some entertainment value and also somewhat still works as a 'feel good movie'.

Perhaps the biggest problem with the movie is that the comedy and drama elements of the movie are not balanced out very well. At times the movie can't seem to decide whether it wants to be a comedy or a drama. A result of this is that most of the comedy feels out of place and seriously mistimed. The movie becomes never funny to watch because of this but the warm feel good atmosphere of the movie still somewhat compensates for this.

Cuba Gooding Jr. seriously needs to start looking for another agent. I mean this is an Oscar winning actor but yet he appears in movies like "Chill Factor", "Pearl Harbor" and "Boat Trip"? I mean, what's up with that? He deserves to play better roles in better movies. This movie is also one of those movies in which he feels out of place. I know he can play comical roles well but in this movie he just never gets enough opportunity to show this. As a matter of fact, none of the characters in the movie work out or feel deep enough. The movie seems to concentrate more (and too much) on its music than on its characters and story in general. I seriously don't think that Beyoncé Knowles is a bad actress but just like Cuba, her role isn't significant- and present enough in the movie. Rue McClanahan also somehow got mixed up in this mess.

At times it just totally feels like entire sequences in the movie are missing. Lots of moments in the movie feel rushed and are not satisfying enough. The movie is a real sloppy job. You can't just blame the script for this but also the filmmakers involved. Yes, it's a real mess of a movie at times, that too often takes the easy simple road.

But yet the movie still works good thanks to its music. It makes the movie very pleasant to watch and therefor the movie still works good as a simple feel good movie. But that obviously doesn't mean that the movie itself is also a good one. The movie is too flawed in its story and way of film-making to consider this movie a good or totally recommendable one.

There still is enough to enjoy in this movie but the sloppy way of film-making and storytelling don't make this movie really a recommendable one. Perhaps this movie is a typical case of 'watch at your own risk'...chances are you might end up loving- or totally hating it.

5/10

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Cuba Gooding, Jr. is among one of the most likable actors I can think of, who always seems subjected to bottom-barrel dreck. His performance as Tre Styles, living on the wrong side of the town with a smart brother and a thug for a friend in John Singleton's Boyz N The Hood is one I recall as one of the strongest of the eighties and one of infinitely powerful emotional impact. On a lighter not, he too gave a quick-witted, inspired performance as a luckless schmuck in pursuit of $2,000,000 in Rat Race. In Jonathan Lynn's Fighting Temptations, his character is Darrin Hill, an advertising executive in New York, who roots stem from Monte Carlo, Georgia. He learns of his aunt Sally's death just as he was leaving his firm with all his things after being informed he was fired for having a resume consisting mainly of false pretenses. He flies down to Georgia to attend the church he did as a child, and is reacquainted with the heat, the atmosphere, and the backsides of the girls by Mike Epps' Luscious. Darrin, then, learns that his aunt left him $150,000 in her will if he can rebuild the church's choir from the ground-up in six weeks. Learning that those who willingly want to join are less than qualified, he holds auditions, wanders around town, and in the meantime, constantly tries to form a relationship with Beyoncé Knowles' Lilly, his crush at a young age who had her heart set on Michael Jackson.

The story here is told with an alertness to its formula, yet a bounce in its step, fully capitalizing on the potential of Gooding, Jr. as an actor and Beyoncé Knowles as a screen presence. As someone who had no desire to watch any film Beyoncé went near and a distaste for her music, she is wonderful here, playing a character not as helpless or as self-consumed as I thought. She also isn't placed in the foreground either, nor does the film feel like it's simply capitalizing off her bankability as a singer. Her and Gooding, Jr. make a perfect pair.

Yet what's really to praise and write home about with The Fighting Temptations is the soundtrack. The choir sequences are energized precisely to give them the added effect and extra boost they need to work. The little rap tune, "To Da River," that comes relatively late in the game, is about as catchy as any song can be, and so often do the songs break free from the depressing shackles of being trite or undercooked.

If there's one point of "triteness" the film incorporates, it's the melodrama and Darrin's slightly smarmy attitude to the idea of running this choir and his romance, which is played out and redundant. It's not as painstakingly cheesy or as tiresome as it could've been (worse, more confused writing that is present in a melodramatic picture like Tyler Perry's Diary of a Mad Black Woman would've steered this film off the nearest cliff). Not to mention, if the film would've had, say, lesser performers, ones with not nearly as much drive, passion, or soul as the cast presented here, this would've spiraled further into lame, contrived mediocrity.

There isn't too much in The Fighting Temptations, and it does go a tad too long, with a story that reaches the two hour mark. It's not great cinema by any stretch; it's the kind I call "Sunday morning-fare," the kind of film you tune into fifteen minutes after it started, watch till the credits, and resume your day unaffected in any way, positive or negative. As awkward of a statement this may be, there's worse "Sunday morning-fare" out there. Certainly it'd be harder to find one as nice, free-spirited, genial, and effervescent as this.

Starring: Cuba Gooding, Jr. Beyoncé Knowles, Mike Epps, and Steve Harvey. Directed by: Jonathan Lynn.

Back in the days when Beyonce still needed a last name (and so in this movie she's Beyonce Knowles) somebody decided to make a movie. It's a bad movie, about a struggling church choir that has to turn itself around to win a big gospel music competition. Yes, there's definite shades of "Sister Act" here, and the engine that moves everything forward is a storyline that was exhausted decades ago - a guy inherits a bunch of money but has to do something crazy to get it. Beyonce can sing - thankfully - and they had some half decent singers helping her out - again, thankfully, because without a little bit of half decent music to listen to this would have been a truly dismal experience.

The guy who inherits the money is Darrin Hill, a New York junior ad exec who loses his job when it's discovered that he faked his resume and then heads back home to Monte Carlo, Georgia, where his great aunt has just died. Aunt Sally has left him $150,000 - on condition that he take over as leader of the choir at the church he attended as a boy and leads them to victory at "Gospel Explosion." Since Darrin happens to have a lot of debt, he agrees, even though he knows nothing about music and cares little about the church. Darrin is played by Cuba Gooding, Jr., who looked miscast and uncomfortable in the role from beginning to end. Beyonce played Lilly, whom Darrin knew as a child at the church and who's now a lounge singer whom Darrin recruits to be the lead singer. Neither are welcomed by the pastor's sister (LaTanya Richardson), who has been the head of the choir and who basically runs the church and runs roughshod over her pastor brother (Wendell Pierce), since she sees both as unrepentant sinners, a feeling that grows as Darrin recruits anyone and everyone from the local barber to a bunch of prison inmates to help out. Richardson's character of Paulina is the absolutely required hypocritical church member - because there has to be a mean, nasty, hypocritical Christian in any movie featuring a church.

If it weren't for the music (some of which is entertaining) dreadful would be sufficient to sum this movie up. The music raises it up one level to just plain awful. There's no charm in it, and while there are a few humorous scenes near the beginning, by a half hour in this has become a chore to try to watch. Eventually this becomes just plain irritating as we wait for what we know is going to be the inevitable outcome, hoping to just get this over with as soon as possible. For some absolutely mystifying reason, the cast even included as a choir member Rue McClanahan, who has virtually no lines, making me wonder if the producers just felt they needed a recognizable white face in this - because I honestly can't think of a single thing she contributed to the movie other than - well - a recognizable white face. (2/10)

This movie was about a man named Darrin (Cuba Gooding Jr.) who returns to his hometown from New York City to read the will of his aunt who passed away. While he is there, he comes into contact with the other characters of the town (Montecarlo, GA) and he stumbles upon his old fling Lily (Beyoncé Knowles). Darrin's aunt leaves him in charge of leading the local church choir to a gospel championship. This was one of the greatest movies i've seen. I'm a huge fan of Beyoncé, so to see Beyoncé in this movie doing her thing is a dream for me. The movie has it's good and bad parts. The acting is great. The soundtrack is even greater. I think that this film would be more accepted by the African-American group. I myself am African-American and there are some parts in this movie where I think only African-Americans will get. It's an A+ Job. Cuba was hilarious in this movie. Not one of his best, but definitely great.

2 hours of your life you will NEVER see again.

Why anyone thought it would be a good idea to remake Sister Act is beyond me. And, incredibly, they managed to make it worse.

Bouncy Knowles is a great singer and an OK actress, but she can't make up for a terrible movie that, although it claims to be a comedy, did not make me laugh once.

Cuba Gooding Junior's career hit a high point with Jerry Maguire but his recent output just seems to get poorer and poorer. (Boat Trip was OK, I suppose, but the joke wore thin pretty quick.) In summary, (in case you hadn't guessed) this is an awful movie whose only possible redeeming feature is the songs. If you're that desperate to hear them, buy the soundtrack.

Cuba Gooding Jr., purveyor of truly awful films such as "Boat Trip", "Snow Dogs" and "Chill Factor", has reached new depths with his latest offering, "The Fighting Temptations". He has now officially squandered any last remnants of goodwill he had left from his Oscar win for "Jerry Maguire" (his good movie) in 1997.

I caught this film on an airplane flight from NY to LA, and let me tell you...even then I felt like I had wasted my time! Because I could have stared straight ahead at the seat in front of me and been more entertained! Other reviewers are defending this movie by talking about how great the music is. Fine, buy the soundtrack but whatever you do...DON'T SEE THIS MOVIE! Good music does not a good movie make! Go see Blues Brothers, which is a superior movie, plus has Gospel music sung by James Brown! Who, in case you were wondering, makes Beyonce Knowles look like...well, Beyonce Knowles! The acting in Temptations is beyond awful all around (Beyonce, we hardly knew ye) the insipid plot is embarrassingly predictable (guess who wins the gospel competition at the end of the film) and this movie has the distinction of having perhaps the fakest corporate meeting in the history of phony movie corporate meetings.

Are we supposed to care about any of these characters? Gooding's character is a habitual liar that fakes his resume, leads a gospel choir because he wants his aunt's inheritance, and shamelessly hits on Beyonce Knowles. And we're supposed to care about him because...? But if you aren't looking for things such as plot, good acting or a well-written script, then by all means buy this DVD and put it on your shelf next to "Gigli", "Battlefield Earth", "From Justin to Kelly", and "Glitter", other films you must surely own.

I got this dvd for free and it's been sitting in my "watch when nothing better to do" pile. When I finally watched it I was surprised it's actually a quite fun movie with good acting and a lot of music. The first half was better, then towards the end the momentum slowed down a bit but the movie is short enough to stay interesting. If you like movies such as "Blues Brothers" and especially "Sister Act" you might like this one too.

There I said it! He can however OVER act, lots of facial contortions, and eye rolling, makes me wonder if you can RECALL an Oscar? This is a cute movie, but I am glad I saw it on TV and did not spend time, or money going to a theater!

What could been a feel good musical comedy was instead turned into a pathetic vehicle for shameless musicians attempting to kick start acting careers( Montell Jordan, Lil Zane & Beyonce) This is the movie that started Cuba Gooding Jr'S slow yet tragic descent down the dungeons of Z Movie Roles. Who's resolve to commit career suicide has been recently demonstrated by his involvement with Daddy Day Camp and Norbit. Ms Knowles should stick to singing, she could't act her way out of a tuna sandwich even if her life depended on it. I watched this dud when it first came out on DVD now five years later i still get nauseated every time someone mentions it or i accidentally see the cover at my local video store. I have read a lot of reviews suggesting that the music made this movie worth watching, (remember purple rain) no amount of good music can redeem a pile of crap. folks do yourselves a favour avoid this one at all costs

Yes, the poster is awful, and I wasn't expecting much from the movie, but although I didn't laugh a whole lot, I also didn't roll my eyes much, either. THE FIGHTING TEMPTATIONS is actually a pleasant, genial collection of great musical numbers surrounded by a ho-hum plot that the movie itself doesn't seem to believe it's of any real importance.

The movie concerns Darren (Gooding), a recently-fired New York junior ad exec returning to his Georgian hometown for his aunt's funeral. Aunt Sally, his sole blood relative, was her church's choir director who spoke highly of her nephew to her fellow parishioners and, in her will, wished for him to take over leading the choir to a local gospel chorus competition. Standing in his way are the usual obstacles: the rival director-wannabe, a rag-tag group of underdeveloped misfits the choir's been reduced to, an on again/off again romance, secrets from his secular life, etc. All of these plot points are straight off the shelf, and anyone who's ever seen a movie before will know how this one ends. (Will they win the contest? What do you think?)

So let's disregard the plot, since the movie doesn't bother to give it a second thought. What THE FIGHTING TEMPTATIONS has going for it are several high-energy musical numbers that are rousingly and enthusiastically performed by the cast, most of who come from music backgrounds. Beyoncé Knowles isn't much of an actress, but the three or four songs she leads are terrific, and her vocal range is stunning. Check the cast listing for other actors, and you'll see the musical pedigree assembled for this celebration of black music. The movie gives time for production numbers that run the gamut: Gospel, R&B, soul, rap - every song's a showstopper.

While the music made THE FIGHTING TEMPTATIONS far better than I was expecting, the flat dialogue scenes are boring. However, the movie's opening shot is lovely. The camera floats down from the heavens to a rural church, then goes through its doors into the center of a jubilant gospel number, swirling around the choir and its ecstatic audience. Then, as the movie sets up its plot and introduces the characters, it drags, until the next song, and so on.

But there I go about the plot again. Never mind it. Don't pay attention to some of the details, like the ethically questionable recruitment of prisoners for the choir. Instead, be delighted by what these three men add to the music. Ignore the by-the-numbers screenplay, complete with the False Crisis, False Dawn, Real Crisis, Real Dawn lockstep of the movie's third act. Enjoy the music and forget the story around it.

As for the non-singing actors, Gooding doesn't embarrass himself as much as he has in his other post-JERRY MAGUIRE movies. Steve Harvey, as the local, boozy radio DJ who sees and tells all, gets the most laughs. Wendell Pierce (the church's Reverand) has a strong screen presence. And LaTanya Richardson, despite being stuck in the clichéd nemesis role, makes the most of it.

Now. I'm not familiar with the milieu of a small southern town, but I wonder if such places have such a healthy mix of races in their churches. Throughout the movie I wondered if gospel choirs have the integration of whites and blacks as depicted here. I also wondered why the two main white characters in this choir were portrayed as country bumpkins while the blacks covered the spectrum of personality types. One white guy's name is Corny Dog, and I tried to figure out his position in the church before I gave up and just accepted his role. (He's dressed mainly in coveralls, which leads me to assume he's the church's maintenance man.) Corny Dog is played by Dave Sheridan, who played Doofy in the SCARY MOVIE, um, movies, so maybe typecasting played a role? In any case, he seemed to be there to make, uh, corny faces.

The other white guy also has a yokel nickname. He's Scooter, played by Mickey Jones - a character actor who's been around for years. Scooter is your typical long-haired moonshine imbiber packing heat in overalls, and since I recognize Jones from SLING BLADE, perhaps my perception is being clouded again by an actor's past role?

And Rue McClanahan doesn't have much at all to do in the movie. She's glimpsed in the background of many scenes, but her only real line is a cheap gag that indirectly refers to her GOLDEN GIRLS past.

Anyway, comparisons to SISTER ACT will be inevitable, so allow me to be the first to mention it. Everybody remembers the music in that Whoopi Goldberg hit, but who can, or wants to, recall the details of the plot?

6/10

One more note: There's at least three scenes dominated by Pepsi product placement. I could complain about how distracting blue soda cans in the middle of the frame are, but I'd rather ponder the realism of these scenes. The movie takes place in Georgia, so wouldn't Coca-Cola (since its corporate headquarters are in Atlanta) be more prevalent in this town?

This isn't funny or pleasant at all! Beyonce was even better when she guest starred as Shine for Wow Wow Wubbzy!

I found this film uplifting, funny and full of emotion. Beyonce looked and sounded amazing. Cuba did a good job and the whole film never lost my attention for a second. They sometimes say that they don;t make films like this anymore, but clearly this film proves that wrong. ( OK ignore that sentence it sounds stupid ) The music in this film is particularly good and all the characters fit into the story nicely. Good happy ending too. I just love this film and I don;t care if its not one that critics would rave on about. In my experience the films they rave on a bout are usually awful anyway. I am surprised that Beyonce hasn't made more films, she can really act in my humble opinion.

Darrin's mother Maryann Hill got forced out of the choir by Reverend Lewis (Wendell Pierce) after busybody Paulina Pritchett discovers her R&B singing. Today, Darrin Hill (Cuba Gooding Jr.) is an aggressive marketing junior executive in NYC. He's a superficial schemer and ashamed of his home town. Darrin is fired for lying about his education and most importantly, getting caught. He's broke and then gets news that aunt Sally has died. He returns to Monte Carlo, Georgia and finds friendly booty-expert driver Luscious (Mike Epps). In her Will, Darrin is made the director of the choir and if they win, she leaves him stocks worth $150k. He falls for Lilly (Beyoncé Knowles) but she's been outcast for her sins.

Darrin is a horribly unlikeable character. Cuba is unable to inject the character with any rooting interest. He is not funny. That goes for many of the side characters. Sure the villainous Paulina is ugly but it's done in a very broad way. Mike Epps is annoying. Most of the supposed comedy is broadly bad. Beyoncé is reasonable and she can sing. The singing is possibly the only true greatness in the film. I would suggest getting the soundtrack rather than the movie.