Black Nativity

Great performances help to enhance this amazing story. After reading some of the negative reviews on here, I just have to say that some people really don't get it. I really wanted to like this film. A street-wise teen from Baltimore who has been raised by a single mother travels to New York City to spend the Christmas holiday with his estranged relatives, where he embarks on a surprising and inspirational journey. My only problem with the film was the supporting cast. This is not a great movie, but the cinematography is bare. The only thing that keeps it afloat is the sensitivity of the relationships. So at the end of the day, I give it 7 out of 10.

"Proof of God's grace is all around you, you just have to open your eyes." After struggling single mom Naima (Hudson) is faced with foreclosure and homelessness right before Christmas she decides to send her son Langston to live with his grandparents. Her father Reverend Cobbs (Whitaker) and his wife gladly take him in even though none of them know each other. Langston wants nothing more then to get back home to his mother and will do anything to make that happen. When a stranger offers to help his life is changed. Even though the cast for this movie is good I was not thrilled about watching this. After watching it my preconceptions were pretty much right on. It wasn't terrible but it was just so over-the-top cheesy that it made it a little hard to get into and enjoy. If this was a made-for-TV movie it would have been OK but the fact that this was a theater release really makes you wonder why this got that kind of distribution when there are so many other more deserving movies that don't get the wide release this one did. Overall, cheesy and nothing amazing. It is a Christmas movie though so that has to be taken into account. I give this a C+.

Going in I knew this was a movie with music and that's what it is, versus a "musical" like Les Miserables, where there's singing throughout opera-style.

The good

All the actors stand out and do their characterizations well. Especially Jennifer Hundson as Naima, the single mom raising a boy-child on her own without help and estranged from her parents. Especially Tyrese who really shows his gentle side as Tyson. His body and face marked with scars, he looks like a thug but has a worldly view as he tries to steer young Langston to the right side of life. Especially Forrest Whitaker who characterizes the Reverend Cobb. Stern, unyielding but with a soft side. Especially the music that soars and transforms the screen into a gospel show near the end. Director Kasi Lemmons ("Eve's Bayou") integrates stage show with movie set ala "Rent". The story of a young boy struggling to find answers and being pulled toward wrongful ways is simplified and strikes just the right tone with spirituality and religiousness.

The bad

Near the end the drama is laid on thick.

See it! This is the only "live" action musical of the year and while it is based on a little known play written by Langston Hughes, it's a triumphant interpretation on film.

Some critiques of this movie paint it as too cheesy or clichéd. It is those things. But the screenwriter was kind of between a rock and a hard place, as one often is in transcribing the work for one medium into another. It wasn't written as a screenplay, but the screenwriters had to walk the line between a full adaptation to film on the one hand, and staying as true as possible to Langston Hughes's vision on the other. It's a little rough in parts, and any time someone is singing in a bus station you gotta look at them askance... but still, the conveyance of the story, and the coming together of this family, in this very evangelical style (totally agreeing with Roger Ebert here), along with the star performances of these actors and singers, ensures that "its rough aspects are easy to forgive."

Not a great, great film, as films go. But for a theatrical adaptation of a play on screen, with music, and a voyage/story that speaks to many... Very much worth dedicating 90 minutes to.

A youngster is forced to spend Christmas with the grandparents he hardly knows with whom his mum had a massive fallout.

This particular youngster, is forced to grow prematurely and is not keen on leaving his mum when she is on the verge of homelessness. Upon arrival he is bewildered by the comfort in which his grandparents live, yet do not seem to help out his mother who is clearly in distress.

Between trying to figure things out, keen to help his mum even if it means stealing as well as adapting to life with grandparents, can brokenness be restored and will the Christmas spirit transcend human intentions?

Whilst it has plenty of emotion to convey, the musical aspect of it was not appreciated as well as the pander on stereotypes. Still, it suffices for a decent time on the big screen.