Joyful Noise

PG-13

Released Jan 13, 2012

1 hr. 57 min.

Comedy

Drama

Musical

List

32%

129 Reviews

Tomatometer

65%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Hard times have fallen on Pacashau, Ga., but the townspeople have faith that the Divinity Church Choir will lift their spirits by winning a national competition. The choir has always made beautiful music, but now, its two leading ladies have hit a sour note. Vi Rose (Queen Latifah) believes that a traditional style is the key to victory, but G.G. (Dolly Parton) thinks tried-and-true means tired-and-old. The two singers must find a harmonious chord or risk losing everything.

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Critics Consensus

Joyful Noise's musical numbers are solidly entertaining, and it benefits from Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton's sizable chemistry; unfortunately, they aren't enough to make up for the rest of the film.

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StephenPaul C

LOL, the funniest 01 hour: and 57 minutes ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated PG-13 for Some Language, and A Sexual Reference!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Starring Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton as competing choir singers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/15/23

Full Review

steph a

I felt like there was a lot of scenes missing for it to make sens and for me to actually care about the caracters.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

11/12/22

Full Review

Audience Member

This feels like an afterschool special - has about the depth of a Hallmark Christmas movie. It was an OK movie to watch with older family members.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/16/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I wouldn’t call Joyful Noise obnoxious or annoying, it’s not coherent enough to earn one of those adjectives. This film is more baffling than anything else. The plot is an absolute mess of nonsense, and it feels like an insane person had a hand in writing it. There are so many moments in this movie where it takes a left turn and starts another subplot out of nowhere, as if Todd Graff (the writer/director) was just sitting there saying “I’ve seen something like this before in a movie, let’s do that.” This movie is so overrun with B-plots, that it feels like they forgot to even have an A-plot. Then there are moments of conflict that come out of nowhere and are resolved by the next scene. Perhaps the most blatant example of the failings of this odd script is the scene where Keke Palmer’s character confronts her mother (played by Queen Latifah) and suggests that her mom is jealous of her because she is beautiful. The rant that Latifah spouts is one of the most hilariously off-the-wall things I’ve ever heard. I was crying because I laughed so hard at that nonsense, and one scene later the two reconcile as if none of that ever happened. (I recommend everyone scout out a youtube video of that speech for just a taste of the nuttiness Joyful Noise delivers.) I’d like to say the music saves this movie, because I am a sucker for a good song even in a wretched film. I will say that the quality of the singing in Joyful Noise is superb, but I was surprised to find the songs themselves so uninspiring. Even the big number at the end is a lackluster medley of songs that didn’t exactly gel into something remarkable. The best songs are actually in the smaller moments when people don’t even have a great reason to be singing. There’s a strange enjoyment I got out of Joyful Noise that is the closest I’ll probably ever come to liking a “so-bad-it’s-good” movie. I could literally write for hours on all the little things going on in this movie and discuss how it handles none of them well. I don’t think someone could construct a movie this bad on purpose, it feels like something that has to start from a sincere desire to make something good, and then you stumble all the way through. I want to be offended as a Christian because Joyful Noise is yet another Christian movie that caters to the lowest-common-denominator and makes believers look bad in the process, but I’m not even sure this was intended to be a Christian film at all. Every message or lesson it may be teaching is incomprehensible, but in a strange way that made it funny.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

08/06/20

Full Review

uncle p

Story/Screenplay: (2.5/5) Completely forgettable as a musical. The storyline itself was OK, but there wasn't enough of it to fill a two hour feature film. Duration/Tempo: (2.5/5) At 1 hour and 58 minutes, it's a longer than average movie that felt even longer. Cast & Crew: (3/5) Queen Latifah probably delivered the best performance. The rest of the cast was OK. Summary: (2.5/5) The story and cast were mediocre and the film felt long. A thumbs down.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Sometimes this is funny when it is trying to be and sometimes it's funny when it is not trying to me. I just want to say to any parents watching this: this is not a healthy mother-daughter dynamic, and if you are treating your child this way you should probably seek professional advice.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

Full Review

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Todd Graff

Director

Queen Latifah

Vi Rose Hill

Dolly Parton

G.G. Sparrow

Keke Palmer

Olivia Hill

Jeremy Jordan

Randy Garrity

Courtney B. Vance

Pastor Dale

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Anna Smith

metro.co.uk

Joyful Noise comes alive in the performance scenes but the dramatic dialogue is so insipid that even good actors sound as though they're reading from a generic cut-and-paste script.

Rated: 2/5

Aug 24, 2018

Full Review

London Evening Standard

Even numbers by Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson take on a religious note. Not much of a God-given screenplay, however.

Rated: 2/5

Jun 29, 2012

Full Review

Catherine Shoard

Guardian

Todd Graff's film sags badly in the middle and is clunky with social context (recession, Asperger's), but there's enough good heart to see you through.

Rated: 3/5

Jun 28, 2012

Full Review

Glenn Dunks

Trespass

Sister Act meets Burlesque in the American south. As loglines go, Joyful Noise has a doozy.

May 25, 2021

Full Review

Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

Parton also is quite game to poke fun of her long-standing history of plastic surgery.

Rated: 3.0/4.0

Sep 13, 2020

Full Review

Brent McKnight

The Last Thing I See

An insane piece of modern cinema that makes me wish I did drugs. Lots of drugs. Hard drugs.

Rated: D

Jul 11, 2020

Full Review

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Synopsis

Hard times have fallen on Pacashau, Ga., but the townspeople have faith that the Divinity Church Choir will lift their spirits by winning a national competition. The choir has always made beautiful music, but now, its two leading ladies have hit a sour note. Vi Rose (Queen Latifah) believes that a traditional style is the key to victory, but G.G. (Dolly Parton) thinks tried-and-true means tired-and-old. The two singers must find a harmonious chord or risk losing everything.

Director: Todd Graff
Executive Producer: Timothy M. Bourne, Queen Latifah, Shakim Compere
Screenwriter: Todd Graff
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Farrell Paura Productions, O.N.C. Entertainment
Rating: PG-13 (Some Language|A Sexual Reference)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Musical
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 13, 2012, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $30.9M
Sound Mix: SDDS, Dolby Digital

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