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The Fighting Temptations

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The Fighting Temptations
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJonathan Lynn
Written byElizabeth Hunter
Saladin K. Patterson
Produced byDavid Gale
Loretha C. Jones
Benny Mendina
Jeff Pollack
StarringCuba Gooding, Jr.
Beyoncé Knowles
Mike Epps
Latanya Richardson
Wendell Pierce
Ann Nesby
Lourdes Benedicto
Dakin Matthews
with Faith Evans
and Steve Harvey
Narrated bySteve Harvey
CinematographyAffonso Beato
Edited byPaul Hirsch
Music byJimmy Jam
Beyoncé Knowles
Terry Lewis
James "Big Jim" Wright
Production
company
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
September 19, 2003
Running time
123 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30,000,000
Box office$32,750,821

The Fighting Temptations is a 2003 American romantic-musical-dramedy film produced by Paramount Pictures and MTV Films. It stars Cuba Gooding, Jr. as the film's protagonist as he attempts to revive a church choir in order to enter a gospel competition with the help of a beautiful lounge singer (Beyoncé Knowles) with whom he soon falls in love.

The film is notable for its soundtrack and all star cast.

The film is also recognized as Cuba Gooding, Jr.'s first (and to date, only) appearance in a musical film.

Plot

The film opens in 1980, where a young boy named Darrin Hill and his mother MaryAnn (Faith Evans) are run out of town after MaryAnn was discovered to be singing secular music when she sings in a church choir also. Their aunt Sally (Ann Nesby) tries to defend MaryAnn but it fails. The church's pastor Reverend Lewis (Wendell Pierce) is too afraid of the other church members to let her stay. MaryAnn and Darrin are last seen saying goodbye to Aunt Sally, as they sadly wave goodbye to each other.

Years later in the present day (then 2003), Darrin (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) has grown up to become a successful advertising executive in New York with a bad habit of lying. His best friend and secretary Rosa Lopez (Lourdes Benedicto) does a good job at keeping his credit problems under control. However, Darrin has achieved so much under false pretenses. He faked his college degree and high school diploma. He also lied about being the son of a congressman. One night while he was out on a date with his girlfriend (Daphne Duplaix), he lied to her about growing up in Europe. His lies soon catch up with him and get him in trouble with his paranoid boss (Dakin Matthews) and he loses his job. After being tracked down by a private investigator, he finds out that his Aunt Sally has died.

A day later he travels back to his hometown in Monte Carlo, Georgia and looks back on both comical and heartbreaking memories of his late mother and the experiences they had together. When he arrives he finds a new friendship in Lucious (Mike Epps), the town's happy-go-lucky cab driver. Lucious thinks he's a pimp and even proclaims himself a "Booty expert" and "Bootyologist". As the two men drive to Darrin's room and board, they hear the town's eccentric DJ Miles Smoke (Steve Harvey) welcoming Darrin back to Monte Carlo.

After the funeral, Darrin learns from the reverend (Wendell Pierce) that Aunt Sally stated in her will that he must direct the church choir and enter the annual "Gospel Explosion" competition and win the prize money of $10,000 and Sally's stock in the company that produces the show which is worth $150,000 dollars. The main problem standing in his path is the wicked church treasurer Paulina (Latanya Richardson) who is also the reverend's sister. Paulina despises Darrin because she thinks he stole her dream job as choir director. He has trouble recruiting choir members but soon discovers a way to con them into the choir. He tells most of them that he'll pay them half of the prize money. In actuality, he has no intentions of paying anybody. However, just when he is about to give up, he runs into an old childhood crush named Lilly (Beyoncé Knowles). Lilly has grown up to be very beautiful and has even become a night club singer at a local joint. He first hears her sing at the club when she performs "Fever". He tries to flirt with her but she coldly rejects him by saying she has a jealous "boyfriend" named Dean, who is later revealed to be her son that she had out of wedlock. After a stressful effort, he manages to get her to join the choir, and he also bonds with Dean thereafter.

Later on, Darrin forgot to enter the choir into the auditions. Luckily for them, the audition judge who is also the town's prison warden, Luther Washington (Faizon Love) lets them perform for his prisoners and if they did well they were in the show. Thanks to Lilly's beautiful looks and voice, they perform well and Washington lets them in. Washington also lets Darrin use three convicts who can sing well. The three convicts are Bee-Z Briggs (T-Bone), Lightfoot (Chris Cole) and Mr. Johnson (Montell Jordan). The latter of whom, has a high-pitched voice and is very sensitive about it and is willing to kill people who find it amusing.

After weeks of success, the choir has become more popular, more people have joined the church and the choir. Darrin also begins dating Lilly and after sharing their first kiss, they decide to fight temptation (which explains the title of the film) and not have intercourse for now. Unfortunately, Paulina receives a phone call from Rosa and learns of his past troubles.

The next afternoon at a church picnic, Paulina purposely reveals Darrin's secrets with a polite demeanor. Lilly is both furious and heartbroken about this and the people who he promised money to begin to panic. Lilly tells him that she doesn't care what he does and she was only using him because he was using her. Since Lilly wants nothing to do with him now, he decides to quit and go back to New York where he has been offered his job back. He goes back and gets a new condo and a promotion. He comes to realize that none of these things mean nothing without Lilly and the choir.

He quits his job and returns to Monte Carlo and reconciles with Lilly and Lucious. The three of them recruit the Reverend and they go down to the Gospel Explosion to stop Paulina. When they arrive, they manage to convince the others to vote her out of the choir. Before their performance begins, Darrin tells Lilly that she inspired him to name the choir The Fighting Temptations.

The choir performs well and receives a standing ovation. They win the competition and now that he has finally earned Lilly's love, Darrin asks her to marry him. She accepts, and eighteen months later, they are married with a baby. Also, Paulina is welcomed back into The Fighting Temptations, having dropped her hypocritical ways.

Even though these things are never mentioned in the film, Lucious is no longer in the choir (possibly because he wasn't getting paid to be in it), and two of the three convicts were presumably released from jail as they are seen wearing normal clothes instead of their prison jumpsuits. The only convict that was still wearing handcuffs and a jumpsuit was Mr. Johnson and is later seen chewing them off, setting himself free.

As the film ends (in a pre-credits scene), Lucious asks Darrin and Lilly's baby "You know I'm your daddy, right?" but Lilly's grandfather hears this and gives Lucious a mean stare. Lucious immediately backs away from the baby and says he was just joking.

Cast

Cameos

Production

The film crew used several locations throughout Georgia. The final scene was filmed in Columbus, GA at the River Center for Performing Arts [1]. Several of the extras were local residents of Columbus, GA.

Reception

The movie was a moderate success, with a worldwide gross of US$32,445,215.

Despite the mixed reviews the film opened at #3. Notably, Ebert & Roeper reviewed the film and Roger Ebert gave it thumbs up, while Richard Roeper gave it thumbs down.

However, Knowles' acting and singing performances were received positively.

The film is rated  PG  in New Zealand for its coarse language.

Soundtrack

File:FightingTemptationsSoundtrack.jpg
Album cover for The Fighting Temptations motion picture soundtrack

A soundtrack accompanied the film which was released a short while before the film was. The soundtrack received generally positive reviews and was more successful that the film itself. Only one song from the movie which is "Summertime" is not included in the movie.

  1. "Fighting Temptation" (performed by Beyoncé featuring Missy Elliott, MC Lyte, and Free)
  2. "I Know" - Destiny's Child
  3. "Rain Down" - Eddie Levert and Angie Stone
  4. "To da River" - T-Bone, Lil Zane, and Montell Jordan
  5. "I'm Getting Ready" - Ann Nesby
  6. "The Stone" - Shirley Caesar and Ann Nesby
  7. "Heaven Knows" - Faith Evans
  8. "Fever" - by Beyoncé
  9. "Everything I Do" - Beyoncé and Bilal
  10. "Loves Me Like a Rock" - The O'Jays
  11. "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" - Beyoncé
  12. "He Still Loves Me" - Walter Williams Sr. and Beyoncé
  13. "Time to Come Home" - Beyoncé, Melba Moore, and Angie Stone
  14. "Don't Fight the Feeling" - Solange and Papa Reu
  15. "Summertime" - Beyoncé featuring P. Diddy (Note: This is the only song that does not appear in the film)

Possible sequel

In a 2003 interview with Mickey Jones, (who had a supporting role in the film), for HollywoodJesus.com, he stated that he hoped the film performed well because all of the principal actors had signed on for a sequel. But as of 2010, nothing has been announced about a sequel. More than likely, a sequel will not be made due to the film barely making its budget during its theatrical run and the mixed reviews the film received.

Broadcast history

The film made its debut on television on Showtime in 2005 almost two years after the film's release. The film has aired on BET, VH1 and it frequently airs on TBS commonly during early morning hours or late night hours.

Awards and nominations

BET Comedy Awards
  • Outstanding Actress in a Box-Office Movie: (Beyonce Knowles) Nominated
  • Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Box-Office Movie: (Mike Epps) Nominated
Black Reel Awards
  • Best Actor: (Cuba Gooding Jr.) Nominated
  • Best Actress: (Beyonce Knowles) Nominated
  • Best Screenplay Original or Adapted: (Elizabeth Hunter & Saladin K. Patterson) Nominated
  • Best Film: Nominated
  • Best Film Soundtrack: Winner
  • Best Film Song: "He Still Loves Me" (Beyonce Knowles & Walter Williams Sr.) Winner
Image Awards
  • Outstanding Motion Picture: Winner
  • Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture: (Beyonce Knowles) Nominated
Golden Raspberry Awards
  • Worst Actor: (Cuba Gooding Jr.) Nominated

See also

References

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