Tony Heck
"Proof of God's grace is all around you, you just have to open your eyes." After struggling single mom Naima (Hudson) is faced with foreclosure and homelessness right before Christmas she decides to send her son Langston to live with his grandparents. Her father Reverend Cobbs (Whitaker) and his wife gladly take him in even though none of them know each other. Langston wants nothing more then to get back home to his mother and will do anything to make that happen. When a stranger offers to help his life is changed. Even though the cast for this movie is good I was not thrilled about watching this. After watching it my preconceptions were pretty much right on. It wasn't terrible but it was just so over-the-top cheesy that it made it a little hard to get into and enjoy. If this was a made-for-TV movie it would have been OK but the fact that this was a theater release really makes you wonder why this got that kind of distribution when there are so many other more deserving movies that don't get the wide release this one did. Overall, cheesy and nothing amazing. It is a Christmas movie though so that has to be taken into account. I give this a C+.
cinematic_aficionado
A youngster is forced to spend Christmas with the grandparents he hardly knows with whom his mum had a massive fallout.This particular youngster, is forced to grow prematurely and is not keen on leaving his mum when she is on the verge of homelessness. Upon arrival he is bewildered by the comfort in which his grandparents live, yet do not seem to help out his mother who is clearly in distress.Between trying to figure things out, keen to help his mum even if it means stealing as well as adapting to life with grandparents, can brokenness be restored and will the Christmas spirit transcend human intentions?Whilst it has plenty of emotion to convey, the musical aspect of it was not appreciated as well as the pander on stereotypes. Still, it suffices for a decent time on the big screen.
mizwright
Going in I knew this was a movie with music and that's what it is, versus a "musical" like Les Miserables, where there's singing throughout opera-style. The goodAll the actors stand out and do their characterizations well. Especially Jennifer Hundson as Naima, the single mom raising a boy-child on her own without help and estranged from her parents. Especially Tyrese who really shows his gentle side as Tyson. His body and face marked with scars, he looks like a thug but has a worldly view as he tries to steer young Langston to the right side of life. Especially Forrest Whitaker who characterizes the Reverend Cobb. Stern, unyielding but with a soft side. Especially the music that soars and transforms the screen into a gospel show near the end. Director Kasi Lemmons ("Eve's Bayou") integrates stage show with movie set ala "Rent". The story of a young boy struggling to find answers and being pulled toward wrongful ways is simplified and strikes just the right tone with spirituality and religiousness. The bad Near the end the drama is laid on thick.See it! This is the only "live" action musical of the year and while it is based on a little known play written by Langston Hughes, it's a triumphant interpretation on film.
Rah Digga
What can I say of this wonderful piece of cinematic gold? I was hooked from the inaugural bundle of photons emitted from that silver screen which darted across the darkened theater, striking my rods and cones, stimulating my visual cortex into effervescent fits of orgiastic black biblical entertainment.Not since Tyler Perry's latest classic have I witness such an incredible ensemble of all black Christian-rivisionism, which adheres in no way to Christian theological scholarship. This film, I'm convinced, along with Tyler Perry's eschatological works, will forever be remembered as the uniting impetus which was portended in the great words of Malcolm X, "There can be no black-white unity until there is first some black unity."TL;DR - Black science, black "christian" folk customs, tyler perry, malcolm x, fist.
AD
