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Black Nativity

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Black Nativity

PG

Released Nov 27, 2013

1h 33m

Holiday

Musical

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

51%

Tomatometer

87 Reviews

51%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

Langston (Jacob Latimore), a Baltimore teen raised by a single mother (Jennifer Hudson), travels to New York City to spend the Christmas holiday with estranged relatives, the Rev. Cornell Cobbs (Forest Whitaker) and his wife, Aretha (Angela Bassett). However, Langston soon finds that Cobbs has strict rules, and the youth is unwilling to follow them. Instead, he sets out on a return journey to his mother and finds the value of faith, healing and family along the way.

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Critics Consensus

It's sweetly amiable and solidly performed, but Black Nativity suffers from director Kasi Lemmons' heavy-handed treatment of its celebrated source material.

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Dwight Brown

National Newspaper Publishers Association

Black Nativity is a jubilant experience.

Mar 21, 2017

Full Review

Wesley Morris

Grantland

All of Black Nativity proceeds with sort of clumsy obviousness.

Dec 10, 2013

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Max Nelson

Film Comment Magazine

To my eyes, Black Nativity is the cinematic equivalent of a Christmas tree ornament: shiny, hollow, sheathed in decorative, artificial linings, mass-produced and, given the cost of today's movie theater tickets, overpriced.

Dec 9, 2013

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Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

If not for the presence of Oscar winner Forest Whitaker, Black Nativity would likely be an easily tossed away film for anyone.

Rated: 3.0/4.0

Sep 3, 2020

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Allen Almachar

The MacGuffin

We're in that strange area where a film balances between two opposite ends: it's impossible to hate, but really tough to love

Rated: B-

Jul 28, 2020

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Julian Lytle

Punch Drunk Critics

To wrap up, Black Nativity isn't the best holiday film we have this season and probably won't clean up at the cinema because in the end it's just a quite average movie.

Rated: 2.5/5

Jan 11, 2020

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Vanessa H

It’s a shame what a low rating this movie has. It’s a beautiful musical with wonderful and soulful voices. There is a lot of great talent; I was especially impressed by the young actor, Jacob Latimore. It’s a positive and uplifting movie. It is also a nice tribute to Langston Hughes; it is based off of his play.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/23/24

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kyle m

The heavy handedness of the message mixes beautifully with Forest Whitaker's performance as the intense Reverend. Far better than Netflix's "Jingle Jangle" Black Nativity captures the story from the Bible, while also elevating African-American culture, creating a gorgeous and moving film.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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r 9

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.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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georgan g

An ok musical but not much of a film.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

We loved this movie! It was marvelously written and performed!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

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Audience Member

Loved it! The mustc was awesome. I'm so proud Kasi Lemmons and the attributes she will bring to young people that want to become directors or screen writers. There's a great message in this movie through music.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

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Kasi Lemmons

Director

Forest Whitaker

Rev. Cornell Cobbs

Angela Bassett

Aretha Cobbs

Jennifer Hudson

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Synopsis

Langston (Jacob Latimore), a Baltimore teen raised by a single mother (Jennifer Hudson), travels to New York City to spend the Christmas holiday with estranged relatives, the Rev. Cornell Cobbs (Forest Whitaker) and his wife, Aretha (Angela Bassett). However, Langston soon finds that Cobbs has strict rules, and the youth is unwilling to follow them. Instead, he sets out on a return journey to his mother and finds the value of faith, healing and family along the way.

Director: Kasi Lemmons
Producer: Celine Rattray, William Horberg, Galt Niederhoffer, T. D. Jakes
Screenwriter: Kasi Lemmons
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Wonderful Films, Maven Pictures
Rating: PG (Language|A Menacing Situation|Thematic Material)
Genre: Holiday, Musical, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 27, 2013, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 31, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $7.0M
Runtime: 1h 33m
Sound Mix: Datasat, SDDS, Dolby Digital

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