Joyful Noise (2012)

In small town Georgia, Vi Rose Hill (Queen Latifah) and G.G. Sparrow (Dolly Parton) don't really get along. When the choir director G.G.'s husband dies unexpectedly, Vi takes over with the support of Pastor Dale (Courtney B. Vance). Vi is raising her kids Olivia (Keke Palmer) and Walter with Asperger while her husband returns to the military. G.G.'s rebellious grandson Randy Garrity (Jeremy Jordan) comes to town and falls for Olivia. The local choir struggles to find their sound to win the Joyful Noise Competition.The singing is great and I love Keke Palmer's voice. The actors are all very good but the story lacks cohesion. This is a slice of Christian Mingle, a dash of awkward comedy and a handful of melodrama. I like all the actors and Keke Palmer is adorable but the story keeps hitting the wrong notes. The characters go off on weird tangents. This is a great musical that gets broken up by the need for a story.

as usually. Dolly Parton was the best part of the film, she should have been featured more and given more to sing. The film as a whole was OK, but nothing special. I'd like to see Dolly throw more jabs at Queen Latifah, like in the restaurant sceen. The teens in this were OK, but sort of annoying and they weren't good actors. The girl was mean to her mom. What exactly was wrong with her brother. The best song was sung by the kid group. The songs could have been better since that was what the film was centered around. Also the movie should have had more songs.FINAL VERDICT: OK, but nothing to run out and see.

I've said this many times when reviewing books, music and movies for other sites. Regardless of what my opinion is, make your own. I should've followed my own advice when I heard about this movie. I was dressed and ready to go the weekend the movie released, but I read a bunch of reviews bashing the film talking about how there wasn't enough music or the movie didn't concentrate on KeKe Palmer's character Olivia Hill and Jeremy Jordan's character Randy Garrity. Both opinions were dead wrong. I didn't even bother to see the movie after reading all the feedback, and I wish I would've supported it in theaters. This was a great movie. There were some cons but the pros drowned them out.I love the way Queen Latifah sings (and raps) so anytime she's in a movie singing, I'm going to watch it. It just so happens that Dana Owens is a great actor, too, so she's killing 'em all in areas of entertainment (if I was into makeup, I'd buy her Cover Girl line, too). Although many people (my mother included) were head over heels about "Akeelah and the Bee," I wasn't into the spelling bee movie. I thought "Jump In" was a cute film though. Dolly Parton is cute enough to pinch her face (although she'd probably throw food at me, like she did in this movie, if I did so) and I enjoy hearing her sing. No clue who Jeremy Jordan is, but he was entertaining in this film and was meant for the part. The plot of the film is a small town that is really hurting for cash wants to enter a gospel concert again, regardless of how many times they've lost to other big acts before. When Randy comes into town to stay with Dolly Parton's character G.G. Sparrow, he takes one good look at his childhood friend Olivia and realizes she's all grown up. (Cue Musiq Soulchild's "Girl Next Door.") They like each other. G.G.'s cool with that. Queen Latifah's character Vi Rose Hill is not, but Vi Rose is also dealing with marital issues now that her husband has gone back into the army and trying to make sure her daughter stays focused. The movie made it seem like Vi Rose had an attitude for no reason, but every time she was mad, her concerns seemed valid. There were a couple of cursing lines and the "pretty" comment that didn't sit too well with me and made Olivia's part a little too rebellious. At no point in the movie did I get the impression Vi Rose had a problem with her daughter being pretty. She told her to button her shirt, and that's about it.Spoiler alert: The table scene with Randy and Olivia was a bit much, especially considering I've known a few Olivias when I was a teenager and none of them would be caught dead hiked up on somebody's relative's table. I raised an eyebrow at that one.Other than that, I enjoyed the movie. Dexter Darden's character Walter Hill was educational (had no clue what Asperger Syndrome was like) and interesting. Jesse L. Martin didn't play a large role, but every time I see him I want to sing a Marvin Gaye song. His mannerisms reminds me so much of the singer, and I was completely entertained with the salute-snake routine he and Queen Latifah did in the film. I loved all of the singing moments, from the Usher remakes to Michael Jackson to the gospel songs. The jokes were always funny. The one-liners were good enough to tweet, especially the one about sweeping. "Hell yeah" right back at you, Olivia. The scene with Dolly Parton snapping her fingers after Palmer came out all dressed up cracked me up. Dolly was meant to play this role.As far as Asian men, my gawd, beware! The first guy (Francis Jue's character Mr. Hsu) with the southern accent was fascinating to watch/listen to. He pulled it off. I did not expect those circumstances to end up how they were, but it kept my attention.This was a really good movie. Good enough to buy. And so I will.

I was disappointed. I love Dolly! And I'm a huge fan of Kris Kristofferson and Queen Latifah, but I am amazed that Kirk Franklin would have anything to do with this movie. It was a prime example of churches behaving humanistic-ally, filled with Christians behaving like the rest of the world...using bad language, dis-respecting authority,using the Lord's name in vain, lying, and having one-night stands. Brings to mind the the answer I saw recently from a sidewalk interview clip, where the interviewer asked a passersby if they knew any Christians, and they said yes, but the ones they knew behave like everybody else. The portrayal of Christians in this movie just helps keep that image going......Shame on y'all!