Because they are of a piece, the movie's farcical and sentimental excesses work together.
Kingdom Come (2001)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:63
Fresh:18
Rotten:45
Average Rating:4.3/10
Consensus: While it has its moments, Kingdom Come is marred by a script that's low on laughs and uneven in tone.
Rated: PG [See Full Rating] for thematic elements, language and sensuality
Runtime: 1 hr 34 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Apr 11, 2001 Wide
Box Office: $22,574,258
Synopsis: Whoopi Goldberg stars in KINGDOM COME as matriarch Raynelle Slocumb, whose mean-spirited husband, Ray Bud, unexpectedly falls down dead at the breakfast table in this touching and irreverent comedy... Whoopi Goldberg stars in KINGDOM COME as matriarch Raynelle Slocumb, whose mean-spirited husband, Ray Bud, unexpectedly falls down dead at the breakfast table in this touching and irreverent comedy based on the play DEARLY DEPARTED by David Dean Bottrell and Jessie Jones. Ray Bud's untimely death forces the dysfunctional Slocumb clan together for a long weekend where family tensions, grievances, and long-suffering silences are aired as they prepare the funeral of their patriarch. An all-star African American cast features L.L. Cool J as Ray Bud Jr., who is put in charge of the funeral despite his struggles to come to terms with unresolved feelings for his father while battling alcoholism and an unhappy marriage with his wife, Lucille (Vivica A. Fox). Bud Jr.'s brother, Junior (Anthony Anderson), is a small-time scheme-spinner who descends on the Slocumb family home in rural Lulu, California with his shrewish wife, Charisse (Jada Pinkett Smith), and their three monstrous children. Bud's sister, Marguerite (Loretta Devine), is a deeply religious bible-thumper whose son, Royce (Darius McCrary)--affectionately called Satan--dreams of starting a family of his own so he can live on welfare. And finally, wealthy cousin, Juanita (Toni Braxton), who competes with Charisse for Junior's affection as the whole family comes together for a wildly vibrant ride orchestrated by a slightly gaseous Reverend (Cedric The Entertainer). Set to a rollicking gospel soundtrack by Kirk Franklin, featuring a title song with Jill Scott, this entertaining combination of humor and family dynamics features a first-rate ensemble cast brimming over with vitality in this self-parody of African American family life. [More]
Starring: Whoopi Goldberg, Toni Braxton, LL Cool J, Jada Pinkett Smith
Starring: Whoopi Goldberg, Toni Braxton, LL Cool J, Jada Pinkett Smith, Anthony Anderson, Cedric the Entertainer, Loretta Devine, Darius McCrary, Vivica Fox
Director: Doug McHenry
Director: Doug McHenry
Screenwriter: David Dean Bottrell, Jessie Jones
Producer: John Morrissey, Edward Bates
Composer: Tyler Bates
Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures
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Reviews for Kingdom Come
This is so amateurish that the cast members, whose characters are all supposed to come from the same little Southern town, don't even bother to adjust their wildly differing accents.
It's all too easy to see through the movie to its plot gears, and all too evident where the grinding of those gears is taking us.
Kingdom Come won't cause anyone to die laughing, but you should find the theme of reconciliation and redemption to be a sweet and reassuring one.
An engaging family portrait of real people dealing with death and one another.
Despite some lofty intentions, McHenry (who last directed the melodramatic Jason's Lyric) more or less keeps it sitcom superficial.
As well done as this film is in places, though, it's hard to be forgiving amid diarrhea jokes, hectoring, high-strung drama queens and heavy-set ladies swinging purses.
Not that there's anything terribly wrong with director Doug McHenry's vision of this dysfunctional group, it's just that there's nothing terribly right about it, either.
There's not much this gifted cast can do with the Bottrell-Jones script.
Another sad example of a seemingly can't-miss movie that somehow misses the mark -- and rather badly.
Uses broad humor and over-the-top characters to hammer its feel-good message home.
A hit and miss proposition, with an abundance of laughs and emotional highlights to help brighten the dimly lit corners of cliche-mongering.
Kingdom Come has passably funny moments, but they don't connect; it might work on video for viewers who glance up at the screen from time to time. The more attention you pay to it, the less it's there.
An ill-conceived series of vignettes in which no cliché remains unexplored, phony pathos drowns the ending and the characters are black Southern stereotypes.
The broad execution of the material keeps it from being all good, but a genuine heart and occasional successes keep it from being all bad.
There's nothing new in this mix of family crises, marital infidelities and long-held grudges, and little satisfaction in the easy personal triumphs.
A grab-bag of loosely connected scenes and lives than a film with a firm sense of direction.
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