DVD Review: Joyful Noise


Okay, I know I'm probably losing any credit I got as a movie blogger for going to TIFF by reviewing this movie, but I don't care.  I saw it, so you must hear about it.  First of all, I know I'm looking at a pretty big "I could have told you that" once you see the review.  Second, I did have high hopes for it as I really like Queen Latifah.  And finally, I'm usually a sucker for movies with music.  Other than the music being pretty great, and Queen Latifah being her usually great self, everyone who would have said I told you so were right, it stunk.  Joyful Noise is all you get - no acting, poor story, terrible dialogue, and an impressive set of music.
ViRose (Latifah) and G.G. (Dolly Parton) both belong to their church's choir (though G.G. and her husband seem to be the only white people in the congregation).  When the director dies, ViRose is made their new director and in charge of winning the choir competition after years of coming in second.  However, ViRose doesn't want to update the music choices, though her daughter Olivia (Keke Palmer who has an amazing voice) and her boyfriend Randy (Jeremy Jordan) have bigger ideas.  Of course G.G. is the choir's sponsor and wants the changes.  So ViRose basically quits, but of course they can't live without her and ultimately go her way.  But at the final competition, they realize they have to be innovative with their music.


ViRose and G.G. fight a lot about why they should each be the director of the choir.  They throw food at each other and use all the dialogue from the trailer to be funny.  The music they do ultimately chose is fun to hear (from Michael Jackson to hip hop).  ViRose and Olivia fight a lot because their mother and daughter and there are rules about dating.  But nothing isn't predictable and very little is original.  It's only the quality of the music that makes this not unbearable, but mostly it's pretty terrible.  Oh, and Dolly Parton has done so much plastic work to her face that she's actually difficult to look at, since she seems to be so different from the terrifically funny actress in 9 to 5.


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