Joyful Noise tells the story of an unlikely partnership between two strong-minded women who are forced to work together to save a small town Gospel Choir after budget cuts threaten to shut them down. Music is a very important component to the story.The larger-than-life personalities of Oscar nominees Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah help to buoy Joyful Noise, a lightweight comedy-musical about two strong-minded women who clash over the direction of a small-town church choir. The friction is set in motion by a surprisingly callous bit of business, in which Parton is informed by her pastor (Courtney B. Vance) that the church board has planned to deny her the position of church choir director, recently vacated by the death of her husband (Kris Kristofferson), in favor of Latifah. Never mind that the announcement is made at Kristofferson’s funeral service, where one might assume that even a woman with such inordinate spunk as Parton might be in a state of grief; it’s one of never-mind-the-details-let’s-get-to-the-singing decision that writer-director Todd Graff (Bandslam) makes throughout the picture, which renders much of the film’s many dramatic elements somewhat facile. And there are quite a few elements from which to choose, including a romance between Parton’s cocky grandson (Jeremy Jordan) and Latifah’s daughter (Keke Palmer), Latifah’s Asperger’s-afflicted son, or any of the genuinely silly issues involving the choir members. Joyful Noise is ultimately a mess of loosely connected elements that viewers are asked to accept in a particularly haphazard arrangement, but for many, the storyline will be a tolerable bridge between musical numbers, which admittedly are the film’s strongest selling point. Thankfully, these are in good hands, with veteran producer-composer Mervyn Warren (The Preacher’s Wife) handling the score and gospel powerhouse Kirk Franklin in the cast, and both Parton and Latifah get to display their formidable vocal talents. But it’s a long and largely tiresome slog to these moments, which may have viewers making frequent use of their player’s fast-forward button. Extras on the Joyful Noise Blu-ray are also fairly slim, with talking-head interviews with Graff and his stars balanced by extended musical numbers and a live clip of the cast and singers at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. –Paul Gaita
Joyful Noise (Movie Only Edition Blu-ray + Ultraviolet Digital Copy)
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Starting 2012 off right!! This movie was so inspiring that I went out and bought the soundtrack and told all my friends and acquaintances about it. We need more movies like this !! The message was inspiring and the music awesome!! If you love gospel music , you’ll love this movie. It brought back memories of when I used to sing in a choir and made me want to join again.
“The Story of the Duelling Divas!” Dolly Parton made her first film in 20 years in “Joyful Noise”, a movie filled with music, love, young romance and a great on-screen war between two of music’s most beloved singers Dolly and Queen Latifah. The film opened in January, 2012 and became a box office hit making nearly $31,000,000 as of March 7, 2012. Critics and fans of both Dolly and Queen Latifah have enjoyed the movie tremendously. The film comes to BluRay and DVD formats on May 1, 2012. The story deals with a woman named G.G. Sparrow whose husband (played by Kris Kristofferson) recently dies. Upon his death G.G. believes she will lead the Church’s Choir until she is told the congregation has decided that Vi Rose Hill (Queen Latifah) would be better suited for the job. That is when the war starts between these two dames with insults, name-calling and a fabulous food fight scene which takes place in a restaurant that took two days to film. There is also a young romance brimming between G.G.’s grandson and Vi’s daughter that is both emotional and touching. The music to the film is produced by none other than Mervyn Warren who did the music for the “Sister Act” movies as well as “The Preacher’s Wife”. Both Dolly and Queen Latifah show off their vocal prowess and the young leads played by Jeremy Jordon and Keke Palmer are first-rate singers. The soundtrack became a certified hit and the music is simply outstanding. Dolly herself wrote three songs including the beautiful “From Here To The Moon And Back”, a song she wrote for her real-life husband. The Blu Ray will have a slew of bonus features including the featurettes “Spotlight on a Song: Dolly Parton’s ‘From Here To The Moon And Back’”, “Inspiration of Joyful Noise”, “Make Some Noise”, “Leading Ladies”, extended songs and a digital version of the movie for download. In March, 2012 Dolly Parton talked with a Singapore newspaper about how she and others involved with “Joyful Noise” were disappointed with the film’s box office performance. Dolly stated, “The movie was not as big as we hoped it would be. But you go into every project hoping it’s going to be a hit. Of course, not everything is. Sometimes your shocked, sometimes your surprised, sometimes things that you don’t think will be that big turn out to be a big hit. And it was a joyful time for me.” No word as of yet as to what, if any, special features will be added to the DVD edition.
Awesome Movie of Music!!! This movie was awesome! I enjoyed every minute of it! I loved the music, the story line, and Dolly’s and Queen Latifah’s feud during the movie! It has a cute, sweet ending and it had me wanting more! I immediately went out and bought the soundtrack and it hasn’t left my car! I can’t wait till the Blue Ray/DVD release so I can add it too my collection! I LOVE THIS MOVIE!