Black Nativity

I was, for the most part, feeling pleasant enough about this... until that ending. It's not that 'Black Nativity' ends badly, it's just so incredibly forced and cringeworthy. It's a Christmas film so I guess I could cut it some slack, but I feel it could've concluded things much better. Some of the character decisions felt odd at times, also. One of the reasons as to why I was actually finding this satisfactory throughout is the cast - loads of recognisable and likeable faces. Forest Whitaker (Cornell) is honestly great, his performance is the only one I'd class as anything over 'good'. Jacob Latimore (Langston) and Angela Bassett (Aretha) are the best of the rest, though I always like watching 'Fast & Furious' star Tyrese Gibson act too. All in all, nothing positive or negative... just average.

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source: Black Nativity

A Film of Forgiveness, 2nd chances and a reason to love as Families. Great Movies, can't believe I cried.

Feel good movie I reckon - if you are into them and don't mind the dramatic depth ... well you are at the right place. The drama is there, but it really has no quality to it. I don't even bother to rate the quality of the acting, we know some of the people involved are very capable. If anything that happens here surprises you ... well I almost envy you if this is the case. I don't think you have to have seen a lot of movies to see the direction this is heading. It's predictable to a T. I try to stay away from movies like this, but I did watch it to the "bitter" end. No pun intended and definitely no spoiler given there, not that it would matter

Black Nativity is an adaptation of a stage play by Langston Hughes which itself is the telling of the nativity with an entire black cast. This film adaptation updates it as a loose parable. Jacob Latimore is Langston Cobbs sent by his mother from Baltimore to live with his grandparents in New York that he knows little about. Naima (Jennifer Hudson) is struggling financially with her house at risk of being repossessed. She has no option but to send her son off to her estranged parents just before Christmas. When Jacob arrives in New York he immediately loses his money and is then arrested. His grandfather Reverend Cornell Cobbs (Forest Whitaker) takes him home from the police station where he meets his grandmother Angela Cobbs (Angela Bassett.) Jacob feels uncomfortable at his grandparents. He knows little about them, he has no idea why his mother has little to do with them, he knows nothing about his father. He finds Reverend Cobbs stern and he also has no time for religion. During his brief stay he has regular run ins with a man called Tyson (Tyrese Gibson) who buys and sells goods outside a pawnbroker. Also in the neighbourhood is a poor, homeless young pregnant couple. Things come to a head when the church puts on their annual nativity and Naima returns and Langston finds out the real reason why she left. The film is a musical drama about faith, struggle and hope. There are people struggling financially, there are people who want reconciliation and redemption. There are people having a crisis of faith. The songs that are gospel based are not very good. The songs need a hook and be catchy. They are not and get in the way. The story is only half developed. The characters tended to be stereotyped and two dimensional. Nothing really fits together even during its short running time. I found the dramatic finale where everything comes together to be anticlimactic and poorly written.

Great performances help to enhance this amazing story. After reading some of the negative reviews on here, I just have to say that some people really don't get it. I really wanted to like this film. A street-wise teen from Baltimore who has been raised by a single mother travels to New York City to spend the Christmas holiday with his estranged relatives, where he embarks on a surprising and inspirational journey. My only problem with the film was the supporting cast. This is not a great movie, but the cinematography is bare. The only thing that keeps it afloat is the sensitivity of the relationships. So at the end of the day, I give it 7 out of 10.

A youngster is forced to spend Christmas with the grandparents he hardly knows with whom his mum had a massive fallout. This particular youngster, is forced to grow prematurely and is not keen on leaving his mum when she is on the verge of homelessness. Upon arrival he is bewildered by the comfort in which his grandparents live, yet do not seem to help out his mother who is clearly in distress. Between trying to figure things out, keen to help his mum even if it means stealing as well as adapting to life with grandparents, can brokenness be restored and will the Christmas spirit transcend human intentions? Whilst it has plenty of emotion to convey, the musical aspect of it was not appreciated as well as the pander on stereotypes. Still, it suffices for a decent time on the big screen.

Some critiques of this movie paint it as too cheesy or clichéd. It is those things. But the screenwriter was kind of between a rock and a hard place, as one often is in transcribing the work for one medium into another. It wasn't written as a screenplay, but the screenwriters had to walk the line between a full adaptation to film on the one hand, and staying as true as possible to Langston Hughes's vision on the other. It's a little rough in parts, and any time someone is singing in a bus station you gotta look at them askance... but still, the conveyance of the story, and the coming together of this family, in this very evangelical style (totally agreeing with Roger Ebert here), along with the star performances of these actors and singers, ensures that "its rough aspects are easy to forgive." Not a great, great film, as films go. But for a theatrical adaptation of a play on screen, with music, and a voyage/story that speaks to many... Very much worth dedicating 90 minutes to.

This is almost a musical, in several cases characters break out in song where we would normally expect dialog. But it isn't excessive and it works well. I saw this on DVD, now I wish I had seen it during the Christmas season for its message. A teenage boy in Baltimore with an unavailable dad and a single mom unable to pay the bills. So he is sent to stay with his grandparents in New York (Harlem). His grandfather happens to be a charismatic preacher, but with issues of his own. I became interested in seeing this for the superb cast, mostly actors I have seen and enjoyed in a number of roles. Forest Whitaker is the grandfather, Reverend Cornell Cobbs. His prize possession is a gold pocket watch with an inscription, a gift from MLK. The grandmother is Angela Bassett as Aretha Cobbs. But my favorite is Jennifer Hudson as the single mom, pregnant at 15. Naima is working at a couple of jobs but needs to come up with $5000 to avoid eviction, and has no way to get it legally. Her acting is spot-on and her singing superb as always. The 15-yr-old son is played well by 16-yr-old Jacob Latimore as Langston. The movie's title refers to a Christmastime Black Nativity presentation at grandpa's church. The ending and reconciliations work a bit too easily at the end, but the message of family and forgiveness is clear. Good movie, better then its IMDb rating (4.0 right now) would indicate. But it has a religious theme so people who object to that will not like it. SPOILERS: When Naimi became pregnant she became a family outcast, and the Reverend paid the dad $5000 to agree to never see her or the baby again. All this alienation ended up with Naimi in Baltimore and not speaking to her parents. At the end of the movie the Reverend confessed his "sin" to the whole congregation and his family, they forgave each other.