ÿþ<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" /> <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=EmulateIE7" /> <meta name="keywords" content="movie review, movie reviews, dvd reviews, blu-ray reviews, recent movie grades" /> <title>True View Reviews</title> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="../../tvr.ico" type="image/x-icon" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../../cssnew/index.css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../../cssnew/review_list.css" /> </head> <body> <!-- The wrapper division encloses the whole page --> <div class="wrapper"> <a name="top" /> <!-- The header division encloses the page header --> <div class="header"> <a href="../../index.htm"> <img alt="TVRBanner" src="../../graphics/TVRBanner.png" class="trueviewlogo" /> </a> </div> <!-- The content division includes the posters new items, annoucements, copy right & certification areas of the page --> <div class="content"> <div class="moviedata"> <div id="rightpane"> <div class="moviename"> JOYFUL NOISE </div> <div class="releasedata"> <a class="releasedata1">Release Date: </a><a class="moviedataitalic">Friday, January 13, 2011</a> <a class="releasedata2">Runtime: </a><a class="moviedataitalic">1 Hour(s), 57 Minutes</a> </div> <div class="genre"> <a class="releasedata1">Genre: </a><a class="moviedataitalic">Comedy, Music</a> </div> <div class="rating"> <a class="releasedata1">MPAA Rating: </a><a class="moviedataitalic">PG-13</a><a class="moviedataitalic2"> </a> </div> <div class="director"> <a class="moviedirector">DIRECTOR(S): </a><a class="moviedataname"> Todd Graff</a> </div> <div class="actor"> <a class="moviecast">CAST: </a><a class="moviedataname">Queen Latifah, Dolly Parton, Keke Palmer, Jeremy Jordan</a> </div> </div> <div id="leftpane"> <img src="../../posters/2012/joyfulnoise01-13-12.jpg" alt="JOYFUL NOISE" class="posterimage" /> </div> </div> <div class="what"> <div class="reviewers"> <div class="reviewer1"> <div class="review_link"> <a href="#A"> <img alt="Laurie" src="../../graphics/TVRIconSm.png" class="review_graphic" /></a> <a class="grade1">D+/C-</a> </div> </div> <div class="reviewer2"> <div class="review_link"> <a href="#B"> <img alt="Renee'" src="../../graphics/RRRIconSm.png" class="review_graphic" /></a> <!--<a class="grade1">5</a><br /> <a id="A1">Out of Five Reels</a>--> </div> </div> <div class="reviewer3"> <div class="review_link"> <a href="#C"> <img alt="Liz" src="../../graphics/LizSmIcon.png" class="review_graphic" /></a> <a class="grade2">C-</a> </div> </div> <div class="reviewer4"> <div class="review_link"> <a href="#D"> <img alt="Mark" src="../../graphics/directorchairsm.png" class="review_graphic" /></a> <!--<a class="grade1">2</a><br /> <a id="A3">Out of Four Stars</a>--> </div> </div> </div> <div class="click"> Click on Icon to read individual reviews </div> </div> <div class="reviewpane"> <a name="A" /> <p class="h1"> LAURIE COKER'S REVIEW<br /> RATING: D+/C-</p> <p>  Joyful Noise  an oxymoron of sorts, as far as I am concerned and one that titles a new film starring Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah, plays out a great deal like a long (way too long) episode of the hit television show GLEE, but it is far, far less entertaining. While the music is fundamentally engaging, the story is trite, silly and poorly fleshed out. Two such talented comedians should be afforded far better material and if it sounds like I disliked it, my movie guest yawned loudly, made noisy chiding remarks and generally vocalized his overall distastes for the whole ordeal for all seated around him to hear.<br /><br /> Set in a small, struggling town in Georgia,  Joyful Noise, centers round a local competitive church choir lead by Bernard Sparrow, who dies of a heart attack, leaving his post empty. Much to his wife G.G. s (Parton) chagrin, the church committee appoints highly religious, Vi Rose Hill (Latifah), whose talented and pretty daughter, Olivia (Keke Palmer) is in the choir, as the new director. Shaking things up a bit is G.G. s troubled (and also talented and pretty) grandson, Randy (Jeremy Jordan), who comes to live with his grandmother and who is totally smitten with Olivia. In silly subplots we have Vi Rose s son, Walter (Dexter Darden) who suffers from Asperger s Syndrome and his friendship with Randy, and we discover that Vi Rose s husband s absence is more than just a re-up in the Army thing. We also see the tiny town dying in the current economy and follow one choir member whose intimate encounter finds her with another member dead in her bed after a night of heated passion.<br /><br /> Music (and some pretty good music at that) ties all this nonsense together, but I d rather listen to the sound track repeatedly (which would annoy me) than to sit though this film again. Latifah and Parton do have some funny moments but these simply cannot save this asinine film and most of these gags and jokes are played over and over again in trailers  truly taking the sting out of the funny. It s refreshing to see Parton, who obviously has had  work even beyond her enormous breast augmentation and huge hair pieces, make fun (with the help of Latifah) of herself. Latifah really should be commended for making the best of her character. Vi Rose, religious to a fault, struggles to raise two children alone (one with a disability) and her story is actually the most interesting, making  Joyful Noise slightly better than a complete wash.<br /><br /> If director/writer Todd Graff had stuck to this heart-filled story, and left off trying to make small town yokels funny, and had he actually made a valid point to repeatedly showing us that the town sits in dire straits, he might have produced something more entertaining and meaningful. He seems to imply that the town will recover if the choir wins the national church choir (Joyful Noise) competition, but in the end it only affords a tiny taste of pride in a community already lost to business closures and vanished jobs  kind of sad and pathetic, when I think about it.<br /><br /> Speaking again of music,  Joyful Noise pulls out the talent, young and old and Jordon and Palmer shine. They, do indeed, sing like angels and their chemistry is apparent. Every member of the choir, and other choirs who perform, sing wonderfully, making for some impressive musical moments. It made me curious about such singing contests and I might like to check one out someday.<br /><br /> Coming back to the review at hand, Palmer, too, works well with Latifah to demonstrate a strained mother daughter relationship  where motherly might (and the Lord s word) meets teen angst  the results fiery.  Joyful Noise, does have its messages - presented in a far from inconspicuous way, but the story and its subplots simply do not mesh in a fluid or entertaining way.<br /><br /> It is fun to see Parton and Latifah spar and even more wonderful to see them sing. I truly wish Graff had writing a better story. He has the cast and the message, but fails to deliver a story of substance or offer characters (save one or two) that warrant us caring. I am placing a D+/C- in my grade book. My movie guest would give it a far lower score, but as noted, I enjoyed pieces, if not the whole.<br /><br /> </p> <br /> <p class="byline">Laurie Coker, True View Reviews</p> <a href="#top" class="backtotop">(Top)</a> </div> <!--<div class="reviewpane"> <a name="B" /> <p class="h1"> RENEE' COLLINS' REVIEW<br /> RATING: 5 (Out of 5 Reels)</p> <p> <br /><br /> </p> <br /> <p class="byline"> Renee' Collins, Renee's Reel Reviews</p> <a href="#top" class="backtotop">(Top)</a> </div>--> <div class="reviewpane"> <a name="C" /> <p class="h1"> ELIZABETH LOPEZ' REVIEW<br /> RATING: C-</p> <p> I love music. I have loved a diverse range of music all my life in South and Central Texas and look forward to movies with this theme.  Joyful Noise is 117 minutes and has plenty of music in it as the central part of this film is about a small town church choir from Georgia that participates yearly in the national competition for choirs, but does not win at that level- only up to Regional level. My love for the music does not win over an extremely predictable script.<br /><br /> Director Todd Graff wrote the screenplay set in Georgia with a church that has a diverse population (but not all inclusive)* that attends and sings in the Pacashau Sacred Divinity Choir. The early scenes of the film show that the choir is led by church financial contributor, Bernard Sparrow (Kris Kristofferson) and his wife, G.G. (Dolly Parton), who sings in the choir. He falls ill as the choir is singing and he abdicates to his assistant, Vi Rose Hill (Queen Latifah). There is not much else to tell, because if anyone sees the trailer, they have the story available to them. It is that predictable. I do not recommend spending top movie dollar fees to see a film when the viewer knows so much about the story walking in. The only non-predictable thing for me is losing Kristofferson so soon.<br /><br /> The soundtrack from Water Tower Music is now available for retail purchase and the track list includes:<br /><br /> Not Enough  Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah; Man in the Mirror  Keke Palmer; In Love  Kirk Franklin; Maybe I m Amazed  Jeremy Jordan and Keke Palmer; Fix Me, Jesus  Queen Latifah; From Here to the Moon and Back  Dolly Parton, Kris Kristofferson and Jeremy Jordan; I m Yours  Keke Palmer and DeQuina Moore; Mighty High  Karen Peck; That s the Way God Planned It  Ivan Kelley featuring Our Lady of Perpetual Tears Choir; Higher Medley  Queen Latifah, Dolly Parton, Keke Palmer, Jeremy Jordan, Andy Karl, Angela Grovey, DeQuina Moore; He s Everything  Queen Latifah, Dolly Parton, Keke Palmer, Jeremy Jordan, Andy Karl and DeQuina Moore and Joyful Noise Suite  Mervyn Warren.<br /><br /> If a family member or close friend wants me to join them for a matinee of this film, the one thing to draw me back in is the song  From Here to the Moon and Back by Dolly Parton, joined by Kristofferson and Jeremy Jordan. It is a pretty love song and one that would make your special someone a great Valentine s gift.<br /><br /> The cast includes Jeremy Jordan as Randy Garrity (GG s grandson; Keke Palmer as Olivia Hill; Dexter Darden as Walter Hill (Vi Rose s children) and Jesse L. Martin as Marcus Hill (her military husband). Courtney B. Vance is Pastor Dale; Kirk Franklin is Baylor Sykes; Angela Grovey is Earla; Andy Karl is Caleb; Dequina Moore is Devonne; Paul Woolfolk is Manny; Francis Jue is Mr. Hsu and Roy Huang is Justin.<br /><br /> *From what I could find on www.imdb.com/title/tt1710396/fullcredits#cast about the Pacashau Sacred Divinity Choir members listed, the diversity reflects some of the Georgia residents, but the casting by Tiffany Little Canfield, Mark Fincannon and Bernard Telsey is not as inclusive as it could have been, according to the http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/13000.html. If writer/director Todd Graff intended this script to have a diverse choir, then adequate research on demographics should be done.<br /><br /> </p> <br /> <p class="byline"> Elizabeth Lopez, Cine y Mas</p> <a href="#top" class="backtotop">(Top)</a> </div> <!--<div class="reviewpane"> <a name="D" /> <p class="h1"> MARK SALDANA'S REVIEW<br /> RATING: 2 (Out of 4 Stars)</p> <p> <br /><br /> </p> <br /> <p class="byline"> Mark Saldana, The Movie Doc</p> <a href="#top" class="backtotop">(Top)</a> </div>--> <div class="reviewpane"> <div class="footer"> <!-- The certification section displays the W3C certification for the page. --> <div class="cert"> <a href="http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=referer"> <img src="../../graphics/valid-xhtml10.gif" alt="Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional" class="w3c" /></a> <br /> <a href="http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/images/vcss-blue"> <img src="../../graphics/vcss-blue.gif" alt="Valid CSS!" class="w3c" /></a> </div> <!-- The copyright sections include the copyright disclimers at the bottom of the page --> <div class="copyright"> <img alt="copyright1" src="../../graphics/copyright1.png" /> </div> <div class="copyright2"> <img alt="copyright2" src="../../graphics/copyright2.png" /> </div> <div class="copyright3"> <img alt="copyright3" src="../../graphics/copyright3.png" /> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </body> </html>