i must have seen a different film!!

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

A different way of telling a story

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

The story, the plot, the drama, or the comedy, is nothing particularly important and deep. But the music is great, this full new generation of Gospel singing that finds its reviving inspiration in hip hop, rock, and all kinds of other new developments, particularly the black musicians of the USA, urban or not, that want to take real life as their inspiration, real life of the younger generations and dedicate their vision to some religious dream and hope.That's probably what this film is best about: it really puts religion back in its place in society and that place is to procure joy and even happiness to people and not the sour ethics of an old fake widow who hides her having been abandoned by her husband behind the front cover of the Bible. This film is probably optimistic about the depth of this religious feeling among the younger generations, but it is not entirely false: these younger generations are looking for some spirituality, even in the most secular countries who, like the secular sectarian France, forbid religious discourse and culture in their schools and public institutions, including the kipa or skullcap for the Jews, the head scarf for Moslem women, and only tolerate religious pins if they are smaller than one inch. Here in this film they work a revival of a southern Baptist church choir that manages to find the real force of joy and gaiety in being together with others and share some communion with a divine dimension in this life. Not the communion of the commandments but the communion of the heart and empathy, soul and mind.The film though, as for the plot and tempo, is slightly too slow at times, too nonchalant. A slightly tighter treatment would have improved it tremendously. But the music is first and foremost.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

Back in the days when Beyonce still needed a last name (and so in this movie she's Beyonce Knowles) somebody decided to make a movie. It's a bad movie, about a struggling church choir that has to turn itself around to win a big gospel music competition. Yes, there's definite shades of "Sister Act" here, and the engine that moves everything forward is a storyline that was exhausted decades ago - a guy inherits a bunch of money but has to do something crazy to get it. Beyonce can sing - thankfully - and they had some half decent singers helping her out - again, thankfully, because without a little bit of half decent music to listen to this would have been a truly dismal experience.The guy who inherits the money is Darrin Hill, a New York junior ad exec who loses his job when it's discovered that he faked his resume and then heads back home to Monte Carlo, Georgia, where his great aunt has just died. Aunt Sally has left him $150,000 - on condition that he take over as leader of the choir at the church he attended as a boy and leads them to victory at "Gospel Explosion." Since Darrin happens to have a lot of debt, he agrees, even though he knows nothing about music and cares little about the church. Darrin is played by Cuba Gooding, Jr., who looked miscast and uncomfortable in the role from beginning to end. Beyonce played Lilly, whom Darrin knew as a child at the church and who's now a lounge singer whom Darrin recruits to be the lead singer. Neither are welcomed by the pastor's sister (LaTanya Richardson), who has been the head of the choir and who basically runs the church and runs roughshod over her pastor brother (Wendell Pierce), since she sees both as unrepentant sinners, a feeling that grows as Darrin recruits anyone and everyone from the local barber to a bunch of prison inmates to help out. Richardson's character of Paulina is the absolutely required hypocritical church member - because there has to be a mean, nasty, hypocritical Christian in any movie featuring a church.If it weren't for the music (some of which is entertaining) dreadful would be sufficient to sum this movie up. The music raises it up one level to just plain awful. There's no charm in it, and while there are a few humorous scenes near the beginning, by a half hour in this has become a chore to try to watch. Eventually this becomes just plain irritating as we wait for what we know is going to be the inevitable outcome, hoping to just get this over with as soon as possible. For some absolutely mystifying reason, the cast even included as a choir member Rue McClanahan, who has virtually no lines, making me wonder if the producers just felt they needed a recognizable white face in this - because I honestly can't think of a single thing she contributed to the movie other than - well - a recognizable white face. (2/10)

The Fighting Temptations was mean-spirited and way too shallow for my liking. In a way I suppose it does expose the religious hypocrisy that goes on a lot now a days, but the way it was done was cruel and mean- spirited. Many of the characters are hard to root for, and while Cuba Gooding does his best with the material, his character is very hard to relate too. I think the producers of this movie expected a big hit, because they brought in Beyonce and figured it would be the revival Cuba needed, but there is too much wrong with it too work. The music itself was quite impressive at times, Beyonce can really do no wrong with her voice, and I especially enjoyed the guys from the jail who were doing the creative rapping, but I feel this should have been light-hearted fun, and in the end it took itself much too seriously a lot of the time. Cuba's charisma serves him well in this movie, but not well enough to make this anything more than mediocre, and it's a shame too because it had all the potential in the world to be a great musical.Performances. Cuba Gooding Jr's charisma makes him better than he has any right to be here, but his character does many things I didn't like. Beyoncé Knowles is gorgeous to look at, but her character is rather shallow and she had her wooden moments, while her chemistry with Cuba felt off. Golden Girl fans may recognize Rue McClanahan has a small role here, she's pretty much wasted. Wendell Pierce had a nice comic touch as the Reverend, I enjoyed his performance. LaTanya Richardson plays one of the most unlikable and despicable religious woman I've ever seen in my lifetime, she did her job well.Bottom line. It has its moments, but not enough to make it a quality flick. It's really mediocre when it all comes down to it, and I really can't recommend this than anything more than if nothing else is on the T.V.4/10

i loved this movie. i watched this movie on TV on night and i loved it ever since. i think there is a lot of action and singing in this movie. there is nothing to hate about this movie. if you ever have a chance to see this movie, watch it. i will say that it will never be a waste. If you hate this movie, why? there is great actors, great people and most of all great singing. the whole movie is great....a little bit predictable ending but nothing that would make you not want to see it again and again. Once you see this movie once, you will love it forever and ever. watch this movie with anyone, wonderful for kids, adults, teens, grandparents, everyone. I love this movie