Movie Review: Joyful Noise

If you look at the picture for this 2012 movie alone you can already see the amount of talent in this musical comedy. Admittedly the script kinda feels all over the place at times, but the performances of the cast and music more than make-up for it. Joyful Noise will be leaving Netflix on September 1st so if you haven’t watched it I would recommend you do before that date. Spoilers ahead as always. I DO NOT OWN THE PICTURE.

Vi Rose Hill (Queen Latifah) a no nonsense controlling mother of two takes over the church choir of a small church in Pacashau, GA after the passing of the original director Bernie (Kris Kristofferson). Bernie’s widow G.G. Sparrow (Dolly Parton) felt like the role should have been passed to her as she is the main benefactor so she and Vi Rose clash multiple times (each more hilarious than the last). Vi Rose uses traditional Gospel songs approved by Pastor Dale (Courtney B. Vance) for the Joyful Noise competition, where church choirs go head to head but have yet to capture first place. Pacashau has been hit hard by the economy; many of the members of the choir forced to close their businesses so Vi Rose is determined to win this year. G.G’s grandson Randy (Jeremy Jordan) comes to live with her after his parents kick him out and, after hearing the choir sing, joins in and convinces choir members, Earla (Angela Grovey), Caleb (Andy Karl), Devonne (Dequina Moore) and Vi Rose’s teenage daughter Olivia (Keke Palmer), to use more contemporary pop songs for their numbers (obviously tweaking it for church). Vi Rose and Pastor Dale don’t approve the plan, nor does Vi Rose approve Randy getting close to her family; Randy befriends her son Walter (Dexter Darden) who has Asperger syndrome while he falls in love with Olivia despite competition from Manny (Paul Woolfolk) who only sees the “church girl” as a challenge. Vi Rose and Olivia’s relationship starts to crumble because of how she feels for Randy, in addition to the absence of Vi Rose’s husband, Olivia and Walter’s father, Marcus (Jesse L. Martin) because of his army duties. I can’t say anymore without spoiling the rest of the movie.

As i said earlier the amount of talent in this movie can been seen on the poster, and even if you had no clue you learned fast. While I admit I’ve seen the four main stars (Latifah, Parton, Jordan and Palmer) in better works, their performance still shined. The amount of sass between Parton and Latifah is an absolute joy to watch; there is a scene in a dinner that had me in stitches. Their individual performances were also fantastic. Latifah has scenes were she is the only reasonable one in the room and goes into fantastic speeches. Parton can be sweet one minute, sassy the next and funny the last. Palmer and Jordan are two very talented young people and their chemistry was great. I’ve been a fan of Palmer for years and was glad to hear her sing; I think she is one of the most powerful young singers I’ve heard. If you read my review of Newsies (if not you can click the title) you might remember I said that I thought Jordan looked familiar; when he began singing I realized I saw him in a production of West Side Story. Without question Jordan is one of the most talent, and handsome, men I have ever seen in film, TV or Broadway; anytime I hear him sing I feel goosebumps up and down my arm. Taking nothing away from the rest of the cast Grovey, Moore and Karl are also very good singers; Karl has been on Broadway multiple times including Legally Blonde the Musical, Groundhog Day, Wicked, Rocky The Musical (yep you read that correctly) and most recently Pretty Woman The Musical and has been nominated for three Tonys. Finally it was nice to see Jesse L. Martin for a few moments in the movie, but it would have been so much better if he sang for a little bit; the man’s voice is like velvet. While the performances were pretty good, I kinda felt like the writing and editing was all over the place; one minute we’re doing something with Vi Rose and Olivia and then Olivia is with Randy.

The soundtrack is pretty good with songs performed by individually by Latifah, Parton, Palmer, Jordan and a couple songs by the choir. Latifah has a number called “Fix Me Jesus” on the piano, Parton wrote three songs for the film including “Not Enough”, performed in the beginning of the film by herself, Latifah and the choir, “From Here to The Moon and Back” which she did along with Jordan and Kristofferson and finally “He’s Everything” at the end of the film. Palmer performs “Man in the Mirror” while she and Jordan sing “Maybe I’m Amazed” to try and incorporated pop songs into the choir. My favorite performance is when the choir makes it to the finals and they use pop songs tweaked for church purposes called “Higher Melody” I’m not gonna say what songs are used in the number; all I’m gonna say is listen and be surprised. Joyful Noise is a cute musical and while it’s not a need to see this moment the film will be leaving Netflix next month so if you are interested stream it now.

Movie Review: Disney’s Newsies The Broadway Musical

For those who can’t get to New York for the Broadway experience many shows film productions (hopefully with the original cast) to give audiences an amazing experience, and this one can be found on Netflix streaming (as of the date of this blog so beware). Based on the Disney 1992 film, as well as the actual 1899 newsboys strike, this show under the Disney name premiered on Broadway in 2012 after a run at the legendary Papermill Playhouse the previous year and was a huge success. The show ran for two years, winning the Tony for Best Choreography and Best Original Score while nominated for six others including Best book, leading actor and musical, before going out on national tour. In 2017 a production was filmed in Los Angeles with much of the original cast coming back and was released in theaters. I had seen the Broadway version of Newsies just after a couple of the original cast members had left, but nonetheless loved it; the guy who played the lead Corey Cott is one of my Broadway crushes and highly recommend watching him live if given the chance. However when I heard about this there was no way me and my theater loving mother were going to miss out on this especially since we are huge fans of Jeremy Jordan who rocketed to super-stardom after this role. Spoilers ahead as usual. I DO NOT OWN THE PICTURE.

Jack Kelly (Jordan) is a newspaper delivery boy with a shady past living in New York City along with several other young men in the same profession including his best friend Crutchie (Andrew Keenan-Bolger) who has a limp. Jack hates New York and often dreams of heading out west, specifically to Santa Fe. When buying their papers for the day Jack and Crutchie meet Davey (Ben Fankhauser) and his younger brother Les (Ethan Steiner) who unlike the other Newsies have a family, but need the work. Jack agrees to help them out, for a small portion and introduces them to his friend Medda Larkin (Aisha De Haas) a woman who owns a theater and often hires Jack to paint beautiful backdrops for her shows. Jack also meets Katherine Plumber (Kara Lindsay) a reporter for the New York Sun looking to break out of the society pages and soon becomes smitten with her. The next day New York World publisher Joseph Pulitzer (Steve Blanchard) announced that the price for the Newsies has gone up from fifty to sixty cents which in turn will force them to sell more papers in order to earn the same as before. Outraged Jack, along with Davey, Crutchie, Les and the other Newsies organize a strike with Katherine covering it. However Jack must decide if this is worth it after police show up along with the corrupt and evil warden of the local juvenile center and the protest ends badly. About as far as I should go without giving away the rest of the show.

Let me start off by saying how amazing this musical is. From the writing, acting and especially the choreography, Newsies is an absolutely fabulous show. For anyone that says guys can’t dance and/or do musicals show them this (there is at least one more example but that is another day). To give you just a small idea of how incredible the dancing is picture this: in the climatic number the guys are dancing on very thin newspaper pages and not slipping (for the record do not try it unless you want to break something or fall on your rear end).

Moving on, the acting was just as good as I remembered the show, even with a couple of different actors than in the show I saw. I actually saw Jeremy Jordan in a Broadway production of West Side Story as Tony about two years before he became Jack Kelly. Between this and a movie he did also in 2012 (which I plan on reviewing at a later date) I knew he looked familiar; then I heard him sing and it came back to me. Having just missed him in the original Broadway show I had to see him in the role that launched his career and let’s just say he was nominated for the Tony for a good reason. I am so happy that he has had so much success, not just on Broadway but on television shows such as Smash and Supergirl because he is so talented. Of course every great lead needs a just as good cast and this one doesn’t disappoint. Keenan-Bolger, Fankhauser, Steiner and the other Newsies are amazing singers, actors and dancers and I hope to continue watching them on Broadway. Lindsay is great as Katherine with fantastic vocals and facial expressions as I remembered from the show. I do not think I saw Blanchard as Pulitzer nor Haas as Larkin in the show, but they were still very good to watch.

I cannot forget about the great soundtrack with so many songs that will either have you belting (probably badly), tapping your foot (or trying to recreate the dance) or feeling goosebumps going up and down your arm and/or spine. The first song I want to talk about is the last song before intermission “Santa Fe” which Jordan does brilliantly (as did Cott when I watched the show) as he laments what happened at the protest and vowing to soon leave New York; it takes a lot to deliver the emotion of Kelly as well as maintain the notes. One of the most popular songs is called “Seize the Day” which is the big climatic number in the first act involving the dancing on newspapers; between that and the angelic singing I saw why this number is talked about more than the others. One of my favorite numbers is “Something to Believe In” where Jack and Katherine declare their love for one another despite some huge bumps. Other songs I recommend listening to are “Carrying the Banner”, “That’s Rich”, “The World Will Know”, “Watch What Happens” “King of New York” and “Once and For All”. Once again Newsies: The Broadway Musical is still on Netflix streaming as of this date, but I do not know how long it will be there. Until that date seize the day (so not sorry I did that) and watch this unbelievable musical.