The Fighting Temptations Movie Review:

When one looks at the career of actor Cuba Gooding Jr., you really have to wonder what happened.

A handsome, dashing African-American actor, who could emulate the great Denzel Washington given the chance, comes out of relative nowhere to walk away with an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1996 for “Jerry Maguire”. Cuba showed strong stalwart dramatic acting with roles in “Instinct”, “A Murder of Crows” and “Pearl Harbor” and was utterly amazing in “Men of Honor”. He had such on-screen charisma and was developing a dramatic backbone.

In 2001, Cuba played more scaled back roles in the aforementioned “Pearl Harbor” but also in “In the Shadows” and the ensemble comedy “Rat Race”. Cuba’s career took a strange turn with the birth of the critically panned but monster-hit “Snow Dogs” which shot Cuba into the comedic leading man stratosphere. His first follow-up to that hit was the disaster “Boat Trip” and his second is the gospel comedy “The Fighting Temptations”. Will this film solidify Cuba’s comedic turn or allow him to return finally to drama?

Cuba stars as Darrin Hill, an ad-executive who seems to be treading water in the pool of eminent failure. Darrin’s only hope comes from the strangest of places, a private investigator. The PI has tracked down Darrin to tell him that his great-aunt has passed away and he must attend the reading of the will. Darrin agrees and scrapes some cash together to get himself to Georgia.

While in Georgia, Darrin learns that his dying aunt’s last wish was for her prodigal nephew return to the hometown and coax a misfit gospel choir into a winner at the biggest choir competition in the state. If Darrin is successful he will inherit $150,000 dollars. Standing in Darrin’s way are a lot of crazy townsfolk and one head strong lounge singer named Lilly (Beyonce Knowles) who could hold the key to the choir’s success.

I don’t know a lot about gospel music and I wouldn’t know if it was great or awful. I do know that a lot of stars from the black gospel music are in cameos in this film. The music in this film is almost setup like musical numbers in a Broadway production. Some of them come off as American Idol auditions while others spark an interest.

Pop superstar Knowles is allowed to use her soprano-styled vocals in this role and her contribution leads to the film having more credibility than it may deserve. Knowles also shows she is expanding as an actress with the character but not leaving her true passion.

The other upside to this film is the quirky characters in the town. A lot of them are very interesting and make you wonder if this is Georgian equivalent of “Northern Exposure”. My favorite is the drunk town DJ played perfectly by veteran comedian Steve Harvey. His whole character was a hoot.

The most mundane and obviously flawed element in the picture is the “paint-by-numbers” screenplay by relative unknown Elizabeth Hunter. This script has every cliché you can imagine and then some. It is utterly laughable to how bad this thing is written.

Given the concept, the pipes of Knowles and an enjoyment for the music, one may be able to look past the script but it’s just sometimes so very hard.

2.5 out of 5

Dean Kish

So Says the Soothsayer

Overproduced and annoyingly glossy, this would have been better with half the budget and a more rigorous director. But it's still toe-tappingly watchable. Darrin (Gooding) has lived in New York since his mother (Evans) was hounded out of their hometown church in quaint Monte Carlo, Georgia, by the legalistic Paulina (Richardson), sister of the nice guy pastor (Pierce). Some 20 years later, a series of coincidences sends Darrin home for a funeral. To get his inheritance, he must help the choir reach a major gospel music competition, which involves trying to outwit Paulina to get a gorgeous "fallen" woman (Knowles), a couple of prison inmates (T-Bone and Jordan), a local good-time boy (Epps) and sundry other unsavoury characters into the choir. Before you can say "Sweet Home Alabama", Darrin's reconnecting to his roots and discovering true love in the Deep South.

No, there's not an original element in the plot, and it doesn't help that Lynn directs it far too broadly. He never strikes a convincing balance between the goofy surface and the more serious undertones, and he completely misses the setting's earthiness and grit. It feels more like an artificial fable than a story we can sink our teeth into. What the film does have going for it is an magical musical score--a number of performance sequences take the breath away with their sheer inventiveness, combining musical styles wonderfully and building the film's dramatic subtext where the script and direction fail to do so. The cast is good on the whole, with lots of quirky supporting actors. Gooding shows flashes of brilliance, but is allowed/encouraged to be far too rubber-faced ... although his acrobatics in the closing credits are astonishing! Knowles steals the film even though she's far too glamorous and sexy for her character (an irrelevant complaint, I know); her steamy version of Fever is a fabulous showstopper! The fact that the film features first-rate examples of every variation of black music makes it well worth the price of a ticket, although the fact that it includes every conceivable small-town stereotype may make you wish you'd bought the soundtrack and skipped the movie.

Rich Cline

Fired from his advertising job, riddled with credit card debuts and all his worldly belongings been repossessed, Darrin Hill’s (Gooding Jr) life couldn’t get any worse. That is until he gets a letter that his only living relative Aunt Sally has died. Returning to his hometown of Monte Carlo, Georgia for the funeral, he discovers that his Aunt has left him over $150,000 but there is a condition, he has to lead the church choir to the state Gospel Exposition contest. The problem is that the church hasn’t got much of a choir to sing about.

Mixing romantic comedy with music could have had hit written all over it but The Fighting Temptations baptises you in predictability and sugar sweet sentimentality.

There is no argument over the infectious sound of gospel music and it that sweet sound that is the saving grace of the movie. Without the strong vocal performances from the eclectic choir, the movie would be exposed for the sinful mess of predictability is truly is.

Cuba Gooding Jr’s career continues on its downward spiral. Every since his Oscar winning performance in Jerry Maguire his movie choices haven’t been the best. From Snow Dogs to Rat Race and Boat Trip to Instinct, one disaster follows another. He is a talented actor but he just needs to work with some decent filmmakers and sack his agent, if his career is ever going to get back on track.

Beyoncé Knowles ascendancy to top superstardom continues with another fine performance however. She makes the movie a lot more watchable than it should be with her astounding good looks and angelic voice. Adding acting to her plethora of talents, Beyoncé shows that there are no bounds to her talent and she could be one of the few singers to transverse the divide between music and film.

The rest of the choir is filled with musical stars, known more in the US than anywhere else that bring a lot of diversity to the ensemble. Performers like Shirley Caesar, Faith Evans, Angie Stone, Melba Moore, Ann Nesby, The O'Jays, Montell Jordan, T-Bone and Zane all add to the vocal stylings of the movie and make the musical number standout.

The over predictability of the plot is the major sin, stopping any chance of it getting into movie heaven. You know exactly what is going to happen as soon as the film starts but it is coated in such a thick layer of sugar that your head will start to hurt and your teeth will ache with the sweetness. You may even be sick.

If you love Beyoncé and gospel music or you have a hankering for the sweet stuff then you might be entertained by The Fighting Temptations. For everyone else, you might want to pray to God to save Cuba Gooding Jr’s career.

Star Rating = * *

Jamie Kelwick

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