The Fighting Temptations

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.