The Fighting Temptations
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: September 19, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
53
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
14
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Entertainment WeeklyScott Brown
Makes shameless use of tried-and-true elements -- but it's hardly the same old song. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverBill Gallo
The plot's a trifle, but so what. Director Lynn (My Cousin Vinny) stages a series of seamless, ebullient show-stoppers that encompass every musical style from gospel and soul to contemporary R&B and hip-hop, and the choreography ranks with anything you'll find on Broadway. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
A rousing, warmhearted comedy, as infectious as the gospel music it celebrates. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Not brilliant and it has some clunky moments where we see the plot wheels grinding, but it has its heart and its grin in the right places. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
A raucous gospel comedy that's as broad as co-star Beyonce Knowles' vowels and chockablock with foot-stomping, up-with-the-choir music that will have even atheists praising the Lord. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
A warm comic story that's fairly engaging even when no one is singing. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneRobert K. Elder
Breaks through as a delightful, surprisingly fresh comedy. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyChuck Wilson
Formulaic but infectiously happy comedy. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterSheri Linden
This culture-clash romantic comedy, scripted by Elizabeth Hunter and Saladin K. Patterson, goes exactly where you'd expect, but helmer Lynn, a comedy vet, gets it there with such infectious energy that you don't much mind the story's predictability. Read full review
70
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
May not be great cinema, but it's a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The movie's musical sequences, which primarily feature popularized versions of gospel standards, are exhilarating and energetic. Unfortunately, that's only half the story, because the so-called dramatic material, which links together all the musical numbers, is mind-numbingly bad. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Despite the increasingly annoying presence of the mugging, fatuous Cuba Gooding Jr., The Fighting Temptations pulls off what feels like a major feat: Its musical sequences could make the most hardened atheist want to go to church. Read full review
63
New York PostMegan Lehmann
Diva du jour Beyoncé Knowles may be the draw, but the real star of The Fighting Temptations is the sensational gospel soundtrack. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Gospel music not only saves Darrin's plastic yuppie soul -- Praise the Lord -- it also gives an otherwise wasted hour and a half some warmth and buoyancy. Read full review
63
PremiereLaine Ewen
The film, directed by "My Cousin Vinny's" Jonathan Lynn, is a fun movie which proves to be worth a look and a listen. Read full review
60
VarietyRonnie Scheib
Paper-thin plot serves as a pretext for rousing gospel numbers in The Fighting Temptations, which straddles styles and eras to get everybody's toes tapping. Read full review
60
EmpireLiz Beardsworth
The romance between Knowles and her leading man doesn't quite spark, and cutting 30 minutes wouldn't have hurt, but Saturday night disposable fluff is rarely as warm-hearted or exuberant as this. Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerBill White
The movie is bursting with minor characters who upstage the main story with their comic routines and musical interludes. Read full review
50
Village VoiceJoshua Clover
The camera loves Beyoncé, but her acting coach may harbor more ambivalence; if she could convert the imperious urgency of her best singing to screen presence, we might stop wishing Whitney would come back from her own private netherlands. Read full review
50
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Could there really have been a black evangelical church in rural Georgia where half the congregation consisted of whites who stomped, flung their hands in the air and rocked along with their brethren of color 15 years after forced integration? Just asking. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
A woefully thin and pointless musical comedy boasting the no-chemistry coupling of Cuba Gooding Jr. and Beyonc? Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy Burr
You have an overstuffed story line, sloppy filmmaking, a general thinness of conception (if you've seen "Sister Act," you've pretty much seen The Fighting Temptations), and a lead performance that starts out obnoxious and becomes actively grating. Read full review
50
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
What the film needs is more heart, humor and maybe some honest-to-goodness humility, not energy. And unfortunately, that's about all Gooding seems able to bring to it. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJoshua Katzman
This shopworn premise allows for a series of improbable plot developments, resulting in a story that's about as geniune as Gooding's character. Read full review
42
Portland OregonianKim Morgan
Plot, comedy and characterization? It's absolutely anemic. Read full review
40
The New York TimesDana Stevens
This movie feels phony and slick, as if it were cooked up by Darrin's cynical ad agency, rather than at his aunt's stove down in Montecarlo. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarrit Ingman
Can someone dial down Cuba Gooding Jr. a few notches? He's so hyperactive during this MTV Films production - which is comedically indistinguishable from "Sister Act," but with more marketable music - that his Vegas-showgirl drag act in the dreadful "Boat Trip" looks like Bressonian minimalism by contrast. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineAngel Cohn
The filmmakers seem to have meant to offer up a spiritual message about community and faith, but it's muddled and hard to find with romance, comedy and phenomenal gospel performances all fighting for the spotlight. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
To enjoy what's enjoyable in The Fighting Temptations, you've got to take in the music and shut out the words -- not the lyrics of the wonderful songs, but the dialogue stuffed into actors' mouths.
38
USA TodayMike Clark
If Gooding can't get another "Boyz N the Hood" or "Jerry Maguire" soon, his career will need its own cork. Read full review
30
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
The energetic musical sequences help make it feel warmer and more ingratiating than it otherwise would, which is fortunate, since this rickety vehicle needs all the help it can get. Read full review
30
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
A soundtrack buried inside a sitcom. Read full review
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