KINGDOM COME / ** (out of four)
By Blake French:
"Kingdom Come" opens with a not so tragic death in the midst of a dysfunctional family. The husband of Raynelle Slocumb (Whoopi Goldberg) suddenly kicks the bucket while eating breakfast at the kitchen table. He leaves his wife not with wonderful memories but with only two adjectives to describe him: mean and surly. This incident triggers a family reunion to celebrate the life of their relative. Most of the family members hate each other and are not particularly happy with their awkward ruination.
The family members all appear to be spoof material from some stale TV soap opera. Actually, "Kingdom Come" is best described as a made for TV Soap Opera spoof. The script gives the variety of eccentric characters unique little quirks that replace development but establish their lifestyles. It's funny how the movie begins and ends with the Whoopi Goldberg character. She is the only person in the family with whom we connect. She realizes that her relatives are resentful fools, and provides us with a kind of wisdom that really benefits the movie.
The film is based on the play by David Dean Bottrell and Jessie Jones, who also wrote the jumbled, unorganized screenplay. Director Doug McHenry does not provide the story with much focus or interest. There's about four subplots of equal importance, but we never actually care about any of the characters. Some of the characters are truly irritating, like a clueless Reverend, played by Cedric the Entertainer, who was so witty and edgy in Spike Lee's "The Original Kings of Comedy." Here he is simply a medium for the film to spew ungraceful humor; his speech mannerism and character development are painfully unfunny. No matter, the movie continuously stretches his stupidity, especially during a closing scene of obligatory fart jokes during a funeral reception. This scene may be somewhat funny, but its context, it is way out of place.
A top-notch cast delivers a variety of situation characters, including Raynelle's alcoholic son (LL Cool J in a performance worthy of the Razzie Award), and his scolding wife (Vivica A. Fox). Her daughter (Jada Pinkett Smith) is married to an adulterer (Anthony Anderson). Another daughter is Marguerite (Loretta Devine), who tries hard to control her slacker son (Darius McCrary). There is also a rich loudmouth Cousin (Toni Braxton) and I already mentioned the gaseous Rev. Hooker (Cedric the Entertainer).
"Kingdom Come" is a movie obviously driven by moral beliefs and powerful conviction, and while its intentions are noble and understood, it never manages to get its point across clearly. The film just cannot successfully display its message in context to the story on screen. It tires to be a warm-hearted, family-orientated comedy like "Soul Food," but does not hold the same standards for itself. What we end up with is a preachy but whimsical comedy that can't make up its mind whether it wants us to laugh or join the chorus.
By Blake French:
"Kingdom Come" opens with a not so tragic death in the midst of a dysfunctional family. The husband of Raynelle Slocumb (Whoopi Goldberg) suddenly kicks the bucket while eating breakfast at the kitchen table. He leaves his wife not with wonderful memories but with only two adjectives to describe him: mean and surly. This incident triggers a family reunion to celebrate the life of their relative. Most of the family members hate each other and are not particularly happy with their awkward ruination.
The family members all appear to be spoof material from some stale TV soap opera. Actually, "Kingdom Come" is best described as a made for TV Soap Opera spoof. The script gives the variety of eccentric characters unique little quirks that replace development but establish their lifestyles. It's funny how the movie begins and ends with the Whoopi Goldberg character. She is the only person in the family with whom we connect. She realizes that her relatives are resentful fools, and provides us with a kind of wisdom that really benefits the movie.
The film is based on the play by David Dean Bottrell and Jessie Jones, who also wrote the jumbled, unorganized screenplay. Director Doug McHenry does not provide the story with much focus or interest. There's about four subplots of equal importance, but we never actually care about any of the characters. Some of the characters are truly irritating, like a clueless Reverend, played by Cedric the Entertainer, who was so witty and edgy in Spike Lee's "The Original Kings of Comedy." Here he is simply a medium for the film to spew ungraceful humor; his speech mannerism and character development are painfully unfunny. No matter, the movie continuously stretches his stupidity, especially during a closing scene of obligatory fart jokes during a funeral reception. This scene may be somewhat funny, but its context, it is way out of place.
A top-notch cast delivers a variety of situation characters, including Raynelle's alcoholic son (LL Cool J in a performance worthy of the Razzie Award), and his scolding wife (Vivica A. Fox). Her daughter (Jada Pinkett Smith) is married to an adulterer (Anthony Anderson). Another daughter is Marguerite (Loretta Devine), who tries hard to control her slacker son (Darius McCrary). There is also a rich loudmouth Cousin (Toni Braxton) and I already mentioned the gaseous Rev. Hooker (Cedric the Entertainer).
"Kingdom Come" is a movie obviously driven by moral beliefs and powerful conviction, and while its intentions are noble and understood, it never manages to get its point across clearly. The film just cannot successfully display its message in context to the story on screen. It tires to be a warm-hearted, family-orientated comedy like "Soul Food," but does not hold the same standards for itself. What we end up with is a preachy but whimsical comedy that can't make up its mind whether it wants us to laugh or join the chorus.