nicholls_les 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.

auteur_theory Darrin Hill (Cuba Gooding Jr.) is a ambitious but habitual lying junior advertising executive. After his lies get him in trouble with his paranoid boss (Dakin Matthews) he gets fired and worst of all, he loses his aunt Sally (Ann Nesby). He travels back to his home, makes a new best friend in a guy named Luscious (Mike Epps), and rediscovers his childhood sweetheart Lilly (Beyonce Knowles). His aunt's will states that he shall direct the town's local choir to victory at a gospel explosion. One thing he falls for Lilly is her voice. She rejects his advances at first but within six weeks she realizes she loves him (and he feels the same for her). But in the meantime, he recruits her in the choir (after she becomes irritated and does it anyway *before they fall in love*). Unfortunately, the reverend (Wendell Pierce) has a sister (Latanya Richardson) who hates both Darrin and Lilly because his mother sang seductive music and she had a child out of wedlock and everybody in town hates and rejects her (except the Reverend, Darrin and Luscious). Darrin loses the choir but after he goes back home, he realizes he loves the choir and Lilly and he returns and with help from Luscious and the Reverend, Darrin and Lilly regain the choir and Paulina is kicked out. They later WIN THE COMPETITION and Darrin wins Lilly's heart. On stage, he publicly asks her to marry him and of course, she says yes. 18 Months Later, all's well, the church is repaired, Paulina turns nice all of a sudden and Darrin and Lilly have a baby.

Boba_Fett1138 This movie is a very sloppy one. The story is filled with some unlikely events and characters and the directing and especially editing is seriously flawed mostly. Still thanks to its music, this movie still has some entertainment value and also somewhat still works as a 'feel good movie'.Perhaps the biggest problem with the movie is that the comedy and drama elements of the movie are not balanced out very well. At times the movie can't seem to decide whether it wants to be a comedy or a drama. A result of this is that most of the comedy feels out of place and seriously mistimed. The movie becomes never funny to watch because of this but the warm feel good atmosphere of the movie still somewhat compensates for this.Cuba Gooding Jr. seriously needs to start looking for another agent. I mean this is an Oscar winning actor but yet he appears in movies like "Chill Factor", "Pearl Harbor" and "Boat Trip"? I mean, what's up with that? He deserves to play better roles in better movies. This movie is also one of those movies in which he feels out of place. I know he can play comical roles well but in this movie he just never gets enough opportunity to show this. As a matter of fact, none of the characters in the movie work out or feel deep enough. The movie seems to concentrate more (and too much) on its music than on its characters and story in general. I seriously don't think that Beyoncé Knowles is a bad actress but just like Cuba, her role isn't significant- and present enough in the movie. Rue McClanahan also somehow got mixed up in this mess.At times it just totally feels like entire sequences in the movie are missing. Lots of moments in the movie feel rushed and are not satisfying enough. The movie is a real sloppy job. You can't just blame the script for this but also the filmmakers involved. Yes, it's a real mess of a movie at times, that too often takes the easy simple road.But yet the movie still works good thanks to its music. It makes the movie very pleasant to watch and therefor the movie still works good as a simple feel good movie. But that obviously doesn't mean that the movie itself is also a good one. The movie is too flawed in its story and way of film-making to consider this movie a good or totally recommendable one.There still is enough to enjoy in this movie but the sloppy way of film-making and storytelling don't make this movie really a recommendable one. Perhaps this movie is a typical case of 'watch at your own risk'...chances are you might end up loving- or totally hating it.5/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

theminx-1 I can understand why some people didn't like this movie. If you're not familiar with the church or the South & their lingo, you won't get a lot of the jokes or appreciate the scenarios presented in the film.I've spent a lot of time around church choirs & in the South, & everything in the movie reminded me of the experiences I had growing up, both happy & painful. Each of those choir members represented to me people that I've come across in my musical church travels.I gave the movie an 8 out of 10 because it hit a chord with me personally. I hope those of you who've been around the church block a few times or spent any amount of time below the Mason/Dixon Line will give this movie a shot.