Joyful Noise: The Southern Gospel Movie that Will Rock Your Socks

Okay, you know those moments when you pick a random movie off of Netflix and bank on it not being total crap?  I know I and many others have experienced moments like these on an almost daily basis.  And on one of these particular days, I stumbled upon the movie, Joyful Noise.  Ever heard of it?  Probably not.  But if you have, I'm actually pretty impressed.  

Something you should know is that, for a fairly obscure film, this movie has some pretty famous people in it; Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah, and Keke Palmer to name a few.  I love, love, love these actresses, so I was amazed that I hadn't heard of the 2012 film sooner.  Apparently it's rated 32% on Rotten Tomatoes (wth?), 5.7 out of 10 on IMDb (I can't even), and 44% on Metacritic.  Honestly, I pride myself on having pretty selective taste in film and, trust me, if this movie was nearly as bad as it has been rated by various web sites, I would definitely say something about it.  I think the film is by no stretch of the imagination perfect, but it is a heck of a lot better than it's given credit for.  I mean, it's cute, has a pretty good plot, the characters are relatable, the music is awesome, etc. 

For those of you who would like to know the general idea of the movie, it is about a southern gospel choir that has struggled for years to make it to a national competition for gospel singing.  As you can imagine, the choir is pretty awesome (I mean Dolly's in it, so obvi, right? #respect).  But the movie isn't just about some competition; it focuses on a few different sub plots about the trials of the main characters (G.G., Vi, and Olivia) that ultimately weave together to reach the conclusion that any town, no matter how depressed, can be uplifted by people working together to bring light into a dark situation.  There is some pretty great humor throughout, too, which I think made the movie more characteristically southern than it would have been otherwise.

Now, let me start by telling you about why I think the movie is good.

**Some spoilers below**

Firstly, it is just pleasant.  If you're looking for a relaxing movie that will put you in a feel-good mood, here it is.  It is a great choice for men and women alike (my husband loved it too) and will satisfy your craving for a movie that leaves you wanting to enjoy your own life a little more.  What makes the film so pleasant is the general positivity of the characters, despite their challenges, and the fact that the characters are able to pull together in the midst of so many challenges in their gospel choir.  There is a lot of criticism out there saying that the film is "too" feel-good, which is probably true, but I didn't think it mattered.  And the reason why I don't think it mattered is that there were enough real-life problems presented throughout the story to compensate for "too much" feeling good.  I mean, it was not vapid and hollow like so many other movies of its kind and it actually had substance.

With that, the music was so good.  It was not the best music of any movie that I've ever seen, but it was good enough to score above a 7/10.  The reasons why I rate it so high compared to what others have said about it are threefold: 

1.) The music has a lot of soul and actual feeling to it.  It's not often nowadays that music actually reflects the spirit that it was meant to have.  Three songs that were particularly full of emotion and soul were "Fix Me, Jesus" (sung by Queen Latifah) and "To the Moon and Back" (Dolly Parton), and Keke Palmer's performance of "Man in the Mirror" (Holy cow, you need to listen to that one).

2.) I think, honestly, people find it easy to hate on gospel tunes because they are religious (might make some people uncomfortable), but these gospel choirs have such a good sound to them.  Every type of choir had a "sound" about them, and I think this type of choir is much more spirited and lively than the average run-of-the-mill choir.  So, you really have to size it up in its own genre and not compare it to pop songs by pop artists, or something like that.

(Dolly wrote this song)

3.) They got some fantastic singers together in this film and it worked.  There are all sorts of movies that are, let's face it, celebrity train wrecks...  You know, those movies that make the audience star struck, but they're not actually any good?  This movie was not that way.  And I feel like the vocalists did not upstage the meaning of the music and its themes by selfishly promoting themselves over a certain overall message.  These singers/actors were just great fits for the job.

Additionally, as mentioned previously, the challenges faced by the characters are so real.  For example, G.G. lost her husband at the beginning of the movie and had to bear the pain of that loss throughout the film.  Vi, Olivia, and Vi's son, Dexter, have to deal with he fact that their dad chose to take a job that took him far away from home for years at a time.  Then there is the immense adversity faced by Dexter in his attempt to overcome his Aspergers syndrome.  We witness this young man go through some difficult things that many adults would probably have a hard time with.  The big obstacles faced by each of the characters individually brings much more meaning to their roles in the choir itself.  

With that, there are the frustrations met by the choir.  Indeed, these guys aren't just a bunch of happy-go-lucky annoying people, but are real people who have to reconcile personal differences to be able to work as a team.  And they actually manage to work great together, taking home the 1st prize trophy at nationals.  Let me stop here and briefly congratulate this movie for not doing the extremely trope heavy, "Oh no, we lost at nationals...  Oh well, at least we have each other.  And we had fun!"  Oh no, this movie did not do that. In fact, it went so far against that trope that it humorously made the gospel choir mercilessly defeat an army of children gospel singers.  I thought this was a good change from the typical competition-based film.  Also, the fact that they were able to win brought joy and inspiration to the choir's entire hometown, potentially starting it on a path out of a long-endured depressive era.  So awesome and inspiring in my opinion.

Left to right: Dexter, Randy (G.G.'s grandson), and
Olivia.

One thing you must know is that this is a movie thick with religious themes and ideas, so you really need to know what you're getting yourself into.  If you go into it expecting to get an occasional spiritual message and aren't surprised that it doesn't totally ignore religious ideas, then you might like it a lot more.  In the same breath, if you're totally against any religiosity in any movies, this movie ain't the right one for you.  Just needed to give you that heads up there.

Now for some drawbacks.

Okay, even though I legitimately enjoyed this movie, there were a few things that really bothered me.  Probably the main thing was the cinematography.  I just did not like the camera work and though that, on top of just being plain boring, it was so fake and unnatural.  In fact, the cinematography was so bad that I think it is a good reason to take off at least three points of a review out of 10 points.  Just not good work here. Other than that, there was not much else that was particularly terrible except for some of the acting.  On occasion (but not always) the lines were not delivered very well, which naturally diminished the intended fortitude of the lines and situations portrayed.  So this was a drawback for me.

G.G. (left) and Vi (right) in an epic--and funny--public argument in a restaurant

Overall, I'd say this movie is a 7.5/10.  I hated some things about it, but there was enough that I loved to make it the score I chose.  And, like I said, if you tend to dislike a certain type of movie that is pretty heavily rooted in religious tradition of the south, you probably won't like it.  I can say though that my husband and I adored this film and we're perfectly willing to watch it again sometime soon.

Ciao for now!  Thanks for reading.

--Corey C.