The Fighting Temptations

The movie might be a little unrealistic but it does have a strong message added with some humor. Cuba Gooding Jr. plays Darrin Hill who grew up in a small town in Georgia along with Lilly (Beyonce Knowles) who he had a crush on since day one but Lilly keeps telling him she's waiting for Michael Jackson to come along. Anyway, Darrin's mother was a member of the church choir and when she was outside of the church she performed in clubs to try and get a record deal. Paulina who i think is a secetary of the church claimed that his mother was an embarrassment for the church because the music she was singing was sexually immoral. Darrin's mother was giving a choice and that was to either to quit performing satan music at the club or leave the choir, she left the choir. Darrin years later was found working in New York at a marketing firm. Darrin literally lies to get want he wants. He misrepesented himself at work and at home by pretending that he graduated from a big university which I think they said was Yale and of course he said he graduated from high school, but that wasn't true either. Of course, Darrin's sins came back to haunt as his boss discovered these misrepresentations and Darrin was unemployed. To make matters worse, Darrin was in financial debt up to his ears and he constantly used up the limit of how much he could spent on his credit cards. The good news is (well kind of good) Darrin's aunt passed away and so he returns to his hometown to see the funeral which was the first time he had seen or talked to her in 20 years. Darrin discovered that in his aunt's will he is asked to take over the church choir and lead them into the gospel explosion, if he is successful he will be inherited 150,000. The problem is, darrin doesn't know jack about music directing, he doesn't know an upbeat from a downbeat. However, Darrin once again misrepresents himself just so he can get his hands on that money by claiming he has helped out musicians like P. Diddy and Dr. Dre. He has Steve Harvey's character, who is a liquor-swigging disc jockey to help promote the choir and get people to try out. Unforunately, noone made the cut. However, as Darrin is still trying to persuade Lilly to join he happens to meet a barbershop trio (O'Jays) singing and was able to get them to join the group and in the next coming weeks Darrin put together the oddest choir ever assembled but when they co-existed, they were awesome. Paulina of course tries desperately to break up the choir by not mentioning the deadline to when the choir was to sign up and pay the fees to get into the contest and always revealing the dirty sins of the group especially Lilly who is single with a son. Darrin did get Lilly to join along with ex-convicts, hillbilly pianist who happens to be a drunkard, rappers, blind boys, etc. Everything was going great until Paulina discovered about Darrin's new york job and that his boss would be willing to hire him back which really concerns the choir and puts Darrin in a morality check. Darrin claims that hey why not lie about all of this when it was the church that tore his family apart and he does go back to new york to promote his liquor product, but as he was promoting it the words of his aunt starting sinking in that he doesn't need to lie about who he is and decides he would rather direct the choir. That task wasn't easy as to deal with the mean Paulina and try to get the rev and lilly back in the group. Against all odds, Darrin did get to lead the choir into the explosion and they ended up winning the contest. Darrin ended up keeping his promise and successfully follow his aunt's wishes and ends up going back to his old church and lead the choir every sunday. Yes, he and Lilly were together and had a their own child. The movie had a very interesting cast and tons of humor. From drinking to Mike Epps pimp lifestyle that he has portrayed in all his movies, to seeing old folks brawling in the church this is definatly a touching but still funny flick. If you liked Bruce Almighty and the 2001 movie "Kingdom Come" you should enjoy this!!

What happened Cuba?! As for Beyonce, she can't act her way out of a bag and will yoddle her way through a song (which is ashamed because she does have a decent voice) but is hailed as THE star of now which is why I had to sit through her performance in this film. Too contrived and too corny.

If you don't take this film too seriously, you should really enjoy it. The storyline is good natured and the music is fantastic. cuba Gooding Jr. plays a hustling New York City based ad man who agrees to fulfill his great aunt's dying wish for him to lead her church's gospel choir in a state competition for $100,000. At first he's like a fish out of water but then he learns about what's really important in life. I'm not ging to spoil this one, you'll have to see for yourself.

LaTanya Richardson (Samule Jackson's wife for those who don't know) turns in a nice performance as the judgmental and overbearing church treasurer Paulina and Beyonce's protrayal of Lily isn't bad at all. Much of the remaining cast is a who's who of contemporary talent including the O'Jays, Angie Stone, Beyonce Melba Moore and Montell Jordan. Not a bad addition to te DVD collection.