Black Nativity: Uma Jornada Inesquecível

Black Nativity (2013) is a movie I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline follows a young man whose mom recently came on financial hardships right before Christmas. She sends the boy to live with grandparents he's never met. The grandparents try to teach him values and explain why they and his mother had a falling out. Meanwhile, the boy is trying to find money any way he can to save his mother's circumstances and return to her.

This movie is directed by Kasi Lemmons (Eve's Bayou and Harriett) and stars Forest Whitaker (Jingle Jangle), Angela Bassett (Strange Days), Jennifer Hudson (Dream Girls), Tyrese Gibson (Fast and Furious), Jacob Latimore (Detroit) and Vondie Curtis-Hall (Broken Arrow).

The storyline for this is just okay and has numerous cliché elements but is still worth following. There's some good songs and cameos sprinkled in throughout the movie. The movie unfolds well and I really enjoyed the conclusion.

Overall this is a fairly average Christmas picture that doesn't live up to its potential. I would score this a 5/10 and recommend seeing it once.

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.

What can I say of this wonderful piece of cinematic gold? I was hooked from the inaugural bundle of photons emitted from that silver screen which darted across the darkened theater, striking my rods and cones, stimulating my visual cortex into effervescent fits of orgiastic black biblical entertainment.

Not since Tyler Perry's latest classic have I witness such an incredible ensemble of all black Christian-rivisionism, which adheres in no way to Christian theological scholarship.

This film, I'm convinced, along with Tyler Perry's eschatological works, will forever be remembered as the uniting impetus which was portended in the great words of Malcolm X, "There can be no black-white unity until there is first some black unity."

TL;DR - Black science, black "christian" folk customs, tyler perry, malcolm x, fist.

I really would have given it a higher rating but I wasn't 100% crazy about all of the singing. I loved the story line and the cast was phenomenal. Overall everyone did a really good job with the acting and singing. So many of my favorites in one film is really a treat. I will be telling everyone I know about this movie.It should be watched by all who value family and faith. This situation plagues many minority homes. Holding on to the anger, hurt of misunderstandings for years when it can be fixed with communication, respect, honesty and forgiveness.I wasn't sure about whether it would be good in the beginning but very pleased I stuck it out and even got my hubby-to-be to watch it with me and he liked it also.

I was, for the most part, feeling pleasant enough about this... until that ending.

It's not that 'Black Nativity' ends badly, it's just so incredibly forced and cringeworthy. It's a Christmas film so I guess I could cut it some slack, but I feel it could've concluded things much better. Some of the character decisions felt odd at times, also.

One of the reasons as to why I was actually finding this satisfactory throughout is the cast - loads of recognisable and likeable faces. Forest Whitaker (Cornell) is honestly great, his performance is the only one I'd class as anything over 'good'. Jacob Latimore (Langston) and Angela Bassett (Aretha) are the best of the rest, though I always like watching 'Fast & Furious' star Tyrese Gibson act too.

All in all, nothing positive or negative... just average.