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(film review) - Black Nativity

So, I only saw this film because my friend told me about it. I might have seen the poster for it or something somewhere about it but had I not arranged to meet up with my friend who I haven't seen for a long time who suggested to see it, I would have not known about this film. It just didn't flag up on my radar nor was I really interested in it. But myself being myself, I thought I'd give this film a gander.

The film is about a young single mother Naima (Jennifer Hudson) who is dealing with difficult times and trying to raise her child at the same time. With news  that she will only have a matter of days left before she is evicted, she decides to send her teenage son, Langston (Jacob Latimore) to his estranged grandparents while she tries to deal with her problems.
Reverend Cornell Cobb (Forest Whittaker) and his wife Aretha Cobbs (Angela Bassett) take this young man in and try to steer his life in a positive way while he is with them, but whilst being away from his mother, Langston then discovers the dark secrets which were kept from him and why his grandparents are estranged.

I've probably made out like this film is much more interesting than it really is, but the long and short of it is, the film kinda sucks. I've seen some bad films in my day and this film is by far not terrible, but they could have done soo much better.

Firstly, before watching this film, you will need to comprehend and understand that this film is more of a musical than just a drama. Kind of like 'For Coloured Women', just not as deep. My friend said that the film was trash and a waste of time. Now, I wouldn't necessarily say the film was garbage, although it wasn't that great. The film did what it had to do and display the complexities in life, single parenting struggles and internal family politics, however, although we had great actors, the storyline and pacing struggles to keep you engauged. The script was decent, the singing was very good, but this film comes off more as a 93min music video than a drama. This film could have done a lot better in portraying more of what was already there. More dialogue, more acting, more of everything, but the film was lacking.


I haven't seen Les Miserables and do not plan to, but I can assure you that the film was also a musical and not even half or quarter as disappointing as this film was. I just feel that they could have done soo much better with this film, the directions and even with a talented cast, not even they could help the narative and make a promising film like this interesting and/or great. Wasted talent on a film with a good idea on paper.

Ok film and gets the point across, but is very poorly delivered and although the cast is great, watch if you are feeling festive or you have to see a film with your favourite stars in or just wait for it to come on TV.

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