I was baffled by the title, "The Fighting Temptations". I grew up on, among other music, songs by "The Temptations", so naturally figured this somehow was a movie about that group, and some comedic 'fighting' among them. BZZZzzzzttttt! Wrong!! There is a conversation somewhere in the middle of the movie, regarding Beyonce's character 'fighting (off) temptation', and at the very end when the church choir performs, they have named themselves 'The Fighting Temptations.'
This is not a very good movie. Very uneven dialog, silly jokes and sexual references, characters who act strange for no reason that supports the story, very sketchy character development. However, I surmise this movie was made to help Beyonce, a very talented singer who really CAN sing, break into acting. And, she does it quite well, as a single mom who makes a living singing in dives. However, the overall movie falls somewhere in the same quality bracket as 'Glitter' and 'Crossroads', fairly recent movies starring other singers. Most of Beyonce, and a little of Cuba Gooding, are the reasons to see this, if at all. My wife left it after 30 minutes, I could not recommend it to any of my friends.
SPOILERS are contained in the rest of my comments. Gooding grew up in the little town of Montecarlo, Ga, and left as a teen, ending up a hustler of sorts in NYC. We see him get a promotion in an advertising company, later to get fired because it was discovered that he faked both his high school graduation and his attendance at Yale. Only to see him re-hired at the end because his 'fans' were demanding him back. He was good, but not honest. However, in the middle when he goes home for his dear aunt's funeral, and the will is read, he can get her fortune valued at $150,000 if he will direct the church choir and lead them to victory in the big contest. Broke, and owing thousands to various credit cards, he takes the challenge. But the choir is only a shell of its former self, and very poor. So he sets about recruiting talented Beyonce, who was in disfavor with the church for being a single mom and lounge singer. He eventually gets her plus three inmates from the local prison, plus three singing barbers, and an organist who looks like he should be riding Harleys shirtless. Through unlikely developments they win, but he finds the inheritance was now worth only $357. He took the job in NYC, but felt guilty, he fought the temptation of New York, and returned to his home and beautiful Beyonce.
This is not a very good movie. Very uneven dialog, silly jokes and sexual references, characters who act strange for no reason that supports the story, very sketchy character development. However, I surmise this movie was made to help Beyonce, a very talented singer who really CAN sing, break into acting. And, she does it quite well, as a single mom who makes a living singing in dives. However, the overall movie falls somewhere in the same quality bracket as 'Glitter' and 'Crossroads', fairly recent movies starring other singers. Most of Beyonce, and a little of Cuba Gooding, are the reasons to see this, if at all. My wife left it after 30 minutes, I could not recommend it to any of my friends.
SPOILERS are contained in the rest of my comments. Gooding grew up in the little town of Montecarlo, Ga, and left as a teen, ending up a hustler of sorts in NYC. We see him get a promotion in an advertising company, later to get fired because it was discovered that he faked both his high school graduation and his attendance at Yale. Only to see him re-hired at the end because his 'fans' were demanding him back. He was good, but not honest. However, in the middle when he goes home for his dear aunt's funeral, and the will is read, he can get her fortune valued at $150,000 if he will direct the church choir and lead them to victory in the big contest. Broke, and owing thousands to various credit cards, he takes the challenge. But the choir is only a shell of its former self, and very poor. So he sets about recruiting talented Beyonce, who was in disfavor with the church for being a single mom and lounge singer. He eventually gets her plus three inmates from the local prison, plus three singing barbers, and an organist who looks like he should be riding Harleys shirtless. Through unlikely developments they win, but he finds the inheritance was now worth only $357. He took the job in NYC, but felt guilty, he fought the temptation of New York, and returned to his home and beautiful Beyonce.