Black Nativity

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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.