Joyful Noise (2012)

Featured Audience Ratings

• jay n

  
  Formulaic entertainment that suffers whenever Queen Latifah or Dolly Parton is off the screen. They are both in fine voice although it's a horror show what Dolly has done to her face. Enjoyable but forgettable and minor.

• Markus R

  
  God loves bad movies. Kris Kristofferson, who briefly co-stars in this movie, had the right idea of dying within the first minute of "Joyful Noise". Witten and directed with kid-gloves by Todd Graff (Bandslam) and starring what turned out to be one of the most annoying… More
  God loves bad movies. Kris Kristofferson, who briefly co-stars in this movie, had the right idea of dying within the first minute of "Joyful Noise". Witten and directed with kid-gloves by Todd Graff (Bandslam) and starring what turned out to be one of the most annoying female duos in recent movie history in Queen Latifah (Chicago) and Dolly Parton (Nine to Five, Steel Magnolias), "Joyful Noise" is a film where I could attempt to explain how truly bad the acting was, or how hardly-there the script was or how corny and ill-advised this entire concept was to begin with, but rather than tell you (right away) I will show you, by giving you a sample line of dialogue (verbatim) used during the film, that was so corny, if doesn't make you want to steer clear of "Joyful Noise", there is not much more I (as a film critic) can do for you. The Set-up: So Dolly Parton plays this woman in a gospel choir named G. G. Sparrow who doesn't really like Queen Latifah's angry black woman character by the name of Vi Rose Hill. Suffice to say, they fight a lot. During one of their countless fights Vi Rose and G.G. embark on this cringe inducing back and forth: "G.G. Sparrow: Well, I am who I am. Vi Rose: Well, maybe you were...five procedures ago! G.G. Sparrow: Who cares if I've have a few little nips and tucks? God didn't make plastic surgeons so they could starve!" And with dialogue like that who needs dialogue. Ok, so I won't hold it against you if that last bit has caused you to not want to read further (or killed reading for you indefinitely). But if you wish to read on, the rest of this review will be more of the same I assure you. Synopsis: In a seemingly small Southern town that lives and dies not with their wavering employment rates or the fact that family owned businesses are going out of business left and right, but with how many national church choir championships they accumulate, the story follows G.G. Sparrow after the death of her husband (played by Kristofferson) and Vi Rose Hill as they jockey for position of the lead in their church choir. There is also a side story which involves Vi Rose's teenage daughter and G.G.'s hokey to the extreme nephew, in a Disney Channel-esque forbidden love story. Ok, so even though "Joyful Noise" is nothing but (harmless) fluff (or the film equivalent of a purity ring) filled with enough poorly written God-talk to give Tyler Perry a run for his money, how can anyone take the wholesome /overall "holy message" this film is attempting to put forth seriously when Parton is standing there looking like the kid from "Mask". Seriously though, with a script filled with horrible transitions, scene after scene of corny southern metaphors and inexplicably nonsensical and awkwardly unfunny running gags (one including a female member of the choir who develops an unsavory reputation after having slept with a man and the man promptly dying) everything about "Joyful Noise" (excluding the singing, which is actually quite good, aside from a few ridiculous songs) is God-awful. Final Thought: If you want to see small children speaking in tongues in silly and overblown fashion for the Lord, witness a Jesus is my homie rendition of Usher's hit song "Yeah" or see Dolly Parton who, with the help of some radical plastic surgery, has turned herself into a Muppet of a woman, then "Joyful Noise" is the movie you have been waiting for! And even if the only reason you want to see "Joyful Noise" is because you are a huge Dolly Parton fan, "Joyful Noise" may do nothing more than give you a woeful headache, not from the singing mind you, but because of the aforementioned asinine storyline and cringe inducting acting (excluding Latifah, who actually has a decent performance) that seems to allow this joyless film to overstay its welcome and then some. This is a Hallmark Channel movie at best, which may be the worst thing one could say about a movie. Written by Markus Robinson, Edited by Nicole I. Ashland Please visit my page on Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/x-52464-San-Jose-Indie-Movie-Examiner and leave any comments you have about this or any review. The more hits I get the better. Thank you. Follow me on Twitter @moviesmarkus

• Panta O

  
  This musical, starring Queen Latifah, Dolly Parton, Keke Palmer, Courtney B. Vance, Francis Jue, and introducing Jeremy Jordan was written and directed by Todd Graff, with gospel-infused music by Mervyn Warren. It is made for a certain type of audience and it won't be popular… More
  This musical, starring Queen Latifah, Dolly Parton, Keke Palmer, Courtney B. Vance, Francis Jue, and introducing Jeremy Jordan was written and directed by Todd Graff, with gospel-infused music by Mervyn Warren. It is made for a certain type of audience and it won't be popular all around the globe. If you like religious tones and find joy in listening good singers give 100%, it is a perfect way to spend joyful afternoon. On the other hand, if you like a real story, not just carefully assorted choice of feel-good clichés, maybe you should choose something else in your nearest video store. There is not much to say about the plot of this movie: After the untimely death of the church choir director (Kris Kristofferson, very strong minded no-nonsense mother of two - Vi Rose Hill (Queen Latifah) takes control of the choir nurturing traditional Gospel style that their Pastor Dale (Courtney B. Vance) approves of, while the director's widow, G. G. Sparrow (Dolly Parton), the main benefactor to the church, believes she should have been given the position... Most of the music is very good, very entertaining numbers, and when you have stars like Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton it is not a problem enjoying it. But, even with their chemistry, they score just enough for a "fresh tomato" if you are a fan, and not enough if you are in other group. I'll quote Richard Corliss of Time magazine who wrote "the critic in me can authoritatively declare that the film is crap. The fan in me sent his shirt to the dry cleaners for tear removal." I wasn't crying but I could understand those who did. If you are ready for something with lots of beat in it, no high art, some folk wisdom, check it out - and have some faith before turning on the player!

• Sol C

  
  The film isn't bad, but it isn't great. It felt like Sister Act 2, which I thought was a much better film that this. Some scenes in the film also reminded me of the Footloose remake. It was great seeing Dolly Parton on the big screen again. I liked her in 9 to 5 and Straight… More
  The film isn't bad, but it isn't great. It felt like Sister Act 2, which I thought was a much better film that this. Some scenes in the film also reminded me of the Footloose remake. It was great seeing Dolly Parton on the big screen again. I liked her in 9 to 5 and Straight Talk. One of the best scenes in the film is her confrontation with Queen Latifah in the restaurant. Queen Latifah also did a great job, as did Keke Palmer. Jeremy Jordan reminded me of Chris Pine. Jesse L. Martin was great in his supporting role, but they should have given him more to do. The music is really good in the film. I could see this being adapted for Broadway.

• Juan C

  
  I have to admit, it has some charm and spirit, and some decently good acting, but it didn't give a whole boast and is entirely predictable and corny, it got some little joy, but it wasn't that joyful. C-

• Nick S

  
  The past has offered very similar films like this, and "Dream Girls" is probably as decent as they're going to get. With horrible films like the "Hairspray" remake and "Fame", I wasn't expecting much from this. The film introduces the typical… More
  The past has offered very similar films like this, and "Dream Girls" is probably as decent as they're going to get. With horrible films like the "Hairspray" remake and "Fame", I wasn't expecting much from this. The film introduces the typical main character. A young girl with a hidden talent. In this case, singing. I want to take this time to talk about the music industry. While all music has been essentially ruined by auto-tune and ridiculous lyrics, this film tries to offer up a different kind of music that requires you to actually use your voice instead of rely on Soundtrack Pro all the time. But, then again, if this kind of music isn't your taste, you won't like the film. I don't know who the film was directed towards, but I'm just going to say what I think. African-American teenagers. Come one, you know I'm right! I can't imagine an Asian liking this. I mean, I'm Asian and my taste in music is more instrumental. The film is just so cliched that all the plot points just seem staged. I guess America likes watching fresh minds achieve greatness, but really; do we actually need another singer? I mean, all music sounds the same these days anyway, so what's the point? The fact that these people call themselves, "artists" is just sickening. Art has nothing to do with auto-tune and sound software and talking along with a beat. Art is beyond all that, and if conveyed correctly, you can make something good and enthralling. But this? This is just a bunch of shlock. The characters are stale, the film is butchered with corny dialogue, and is full of music-industry stereotypes. "I'm gonna give this kid her big shot" kind of thing. Overall, a bad movie.

• Noah N

  
  Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah make 'Joyful Noise' (2012) just as memorable as its powerful musical performances. It can be funny and insightful, but overall it's heartwarming.

• Matt S

  
  Better than I expected. Wasn't too preechy and the songs were pretty good. If you like Glee you'll probably like this movie. Acting was ok, and the Dolly/Latifah was decent enough.

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