Joyful Noise (2012)

 
Joyful Noise (2012)

3/10

Starring:
Queen Latifah
Dolly Parton
Keke Palmer
Jeremy Jordan

Directed by: Todd Graff

A movie with Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton in it was watched by me two weeks ago. I know some of you are thinking to yourself, “Why would he watch that?” But hey, someone has to, so I did. And at the very end, I just wished I had left the job to some other reviewer.

The main reason I even gave this movie a shot is that Queen Latifah was in it. She has done some good movies in her days, but this is not one of them.

The only sure thing about Joyful Noise is that the writers must really love Sister Act (Whoopi Goldberg), especially Sister Act 2. Because no matter what happens, all I saw was Sister Act 2. Or in other words, maybe the producers were hoping we’d see this flick and love it as we did the Sister Act, turns out we do not, well I do not, speaking for myself.

The movie follows two women, Vi Rose (Queen Latifah) and G.G. (Dolly Parton), who are forced to co-lead a church choir in a small town after the choir director dies. Rose is all about structure and tradition, while G.G. wants to shake things up with modern songs and a new approach. Naturally, their personalities clash, and the tension spills into the choir.

At the same time, Rose’s daughter and G.G.’s grandson start falling for each other, which adds fuel to the fire. So now you've got choir politics, family drama, and a small town trying to win a national gospel competition while everyone is too busy picking sides. There's a lot of singing, a few forced emotional moments, and of course, the big finale where unity magically wins.

Now, the issue here is not the cast, I have seen better acting elsewhere, but the acting in this movie can fly as a pass — it’s that this movie feels like it was built out of recycled scenes from better films. The whole “two adults fighting while their kids fall in love” thing is tired. Every scene feels like déjà vu, and calling it predictable is being generous. It tries to be Sister Act 3, but without the soul, the humour, or the spark. Just drama, choir rehearsals, and random song choices that make you wonder who exactly this film was made for.

Joyful Noise rides on the wings of clichés. And if you are a fan of clichés, then this movie won’t disappoint. But if you love originality, then stay away.

But regardless, Queen Latifah was good in her acting, and Dolly Parton should stick to singing. Everyone else in the movie should get a life, do not bother seeing this.