Kingdom Come

This absolutely outstanding film is an total delight.

There were lots of big laugh-out-loud scenes, great humour, wit and charm.

LL Cool J absolutely walks away with the film in his amazing acting job as the son of the man that no one likes – but they have all come together to bury.

As my friends and family will tell you, I have always had a not-so-secret crush on Whoopi Goldberg. This film reinforces that crush – she is the rock in the maelstrom of insanity that surrounds the burial of her much-despised husband.

The characters are quietly complex – especially LL Cool J's character – who has demons that pursue him, including the inability to mourn the father that he disliked so much.

Most of the humour is fairly subtle and cerebral – though there is one absolutely great scene that slides into bathroom humour about the affect of Mexican food on the minister (Cedric the Entertainer) that officiates at the funeral.

This is a family story – it could be anyone's family. It is irrelevant that the family is African American: this family crosses all colour lines. They behave badly at times but they are there for each other in a way that all families should be but seldom are.

You would think that with Toni Braxton in the film any singing would be done by her – not so. There is a very nice 3 woman church choir that includes the Saturday Night Live alum, Ellen Cleghorn. The song at the funeral is sung by Jada Pinkett Smith – and she does a great job.

In checking viewer votes there were almost as many `1' votes as there were `10s'… I think that some people just didn't get it. Their loss.

What a delightful movie! It's about family, and love, and dreams, and how we get along in this world -- especially with our nearest and not-always-dearest. It's warm and wistful and laugh-out-loud funny!

As for Goldberg's part, though promotions may have given her high billing, in fact her part is minuscule. But even if she'd been absent, this cast did more than enough to entertain.

LL Cool J did a fine job in the lead, only his name betraying his rap origins. He was joined by a host of other talented actors, including a favorite of mine, Loretta Devine, as a classic "momma." Another performance I particularly enjoyed was Cedric the Entertainer's role of the Reverend.

But everybody was good! Great ensemble acting -- _everyone_ was just right, including even the bit players, and they all blended into a very believable whole. The dialogue was witty, capturing exactly the character types, but down-to-earth without resorting to cheap crudity.

I kept thinking, "This would make an excellent play for community theater!" Great character types, great major roles, lots of smaller and non-speaking parts, easy to set. Then the credits showed that it had been adapted from David Dean Bottrell's play "Dearly Departed." It made me long to 'tread the boards' again -- join a great cast like that and take part in the play's warmth, truth and wry good humor.

The funeral of a hard-to-love father brings together his extended family, with their various relational wrinkles, all of which are plausibly solved by the end.

The story is kind, forgiving of human foibles, and in good taste throughout. The 'bathroom humor' mentioned in another review is a very light, one-time thing -- gas due to indigestion -- that is also a necessary plot device. I don't see how it could have been handled any better another way.

My satellite service will be showing this film all month, and I plan to watch it a couple more times. And beyond its humor, because of its warm heart and human hope I intend to buy the video.

I had the privilege of viewing this movie twice and laughed just as hard the second time around. The film does well at portraying the strong bonds within an African American family despite any circumstances. I recommend this family film to all.

Well, from the little press I saw regarding this movie when it first came out, I'll admit I wasn't running to the theater. (I wasn't even running to the video store.) However, when it came on HBO recently, my sister told me to sit down and watch it, to compare it to our family.

This movie was almost scary in how closely it mimicked our gatherings (especially funerals, but all gatherings in general). I really felt like the writers knew us, as they hit several depictions right on the head.

The Slocums are more the typical Black family than most movies will show nowadays--sure there are a few people who lose their way now and again, but family brings them back around. (What family isn't slightly dysfunctional anyway? It just makes family gatherings more amusing. Heck--my family even has the three holy-terror-boys who run around every gathering destroying everything.)

I'm not going to say that the acting was outstanding, or the script completely original because it wasn't. THE SCRIPT WAS REALISTIC, THOUGH. It wasn't original because anyone could have sat through a funeral in their family and copied things word for word. I do recommend this movie. The last minute is a little cheesy, but hey, the rest of the movie works so well that you accept it. There weren't any unnecessary curses, gratuitous violence or sex. It was just a movie about family. What is more real than that?

This is the ultimate feel-good movie because you feel like it is real. Some movies are just too contrived, but I had to smile to myself at the end of this movie. It shows how the strength of your family helps you cope and heal together.

It's about Family (anyone's Family) and it's Funny. I watch it at least once a Quarter and quote lines from it weekly. "You know what it is to watch something you love, just shrivel up and die" ... Jada was Priceless. Vivica, Whoopi, LL Cool J, Anthony Anderson, Toni Braxton, forgetting some of the "real names" but Aunt Maugarite (trying hard NOT to be her, personally ... hahaha), Royce and Floyd the Mechanic. Oh and Cedric the Entertainer. All Star Class i my book and just a Great Movie about people to keep you sane as you live your life with them and yourself, of course. Please buy a copy today. (just a personal recommendation)