Kingdom Come (2001)

Just caught this on local TV here and I had no idea this film ever existed. It's funny, it's human, it's warm, it's truthful but it's hopeful. I may be miles removed from the demographics pictured here but I remember a certain funeral in my own family that had all the hallmarks of this one...As far as the storytelling is concerned, this film/script/play has all the intricacies and finely observed and rendered detail that makes the films of Marcel Pagnol about the life of Southern Frenchmen so universal yesterday, today and tomorrow, all around the world.Fine ensemble cast where none of the stars detract from each other. A class act all the way.

This movie was outstanding. It was very funny, and very similar to the play. It only added or changed dialog in a few places, and it was always an improvement over the (already amazing)play.The cast was one of the if not the best ever assembled for a movie. LL Cool J is an even better actor than Rapper and gives an AMAZING performance. Jada Pinkett Smith is very talented and funny. As is the (always) hilarious Anthony Anderson. I could go on and on but there is no need- this classic film speaks for itself and in my opinion is one of the greatest movies ever made. (top 20 easily) (yes of all time). If you have not seen this you MUST see it immediately!

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.

We all have families composed of a great many different personalities. Some are crazier than others but deep down if we consider them family we love them. Kingdom Come shows up what happens when they are all forced to get back together for a tragedy. Whoopi Goldberg plays the long-suffering matriarch of the family who watches her mean and nasty husband drop dead at breakfast one morning. Now her sister and all of their children, except for...well you know...he's still in jail, are all coming home for the funeral. The rest of the movie details how they all come together as a bunch of crazy, fighting individuals and end together as a family. The story was a little weak. A lot of it was stereotypical but the acting more than saved it throughout. In fact the performances carried the movie well over the top in quality. Whoopi played the quiet matriarch dispensing wisdom as needed. LL Cool J played her oldest son, the recovering alcoholic, who is struggling with his own fear of death and the infertility problems he and his wife seem to be having. Anthony Anderson played the younger son as a dreamer stuck with a hot-headed wife and multiple kids. Cedric the Entertainer portrays the town preacher as a man full of advice...and other more shallow problems near the end. I really enjoyed this one. It mixed drama with comedy from start to finish and will be a part of my collection.