Product: Kingdom Come (2001)
Rating: 4.0
Family -- and HOW!
A family patriarch dies unexpectedly . . . and the only way his widow (Whoopi Goldberg in a perfectly executed performance) can describe him is "mean and surly." No one in this extended family can really find anything much better to say for him, and yet they're forced to come together for the man's funeral. Some of them, apparently, haven't spoken in years. But invariably, as they combine to plan the funeral, they find themselves re-examining their feelings, not only about the departed, but for each other and even about themselves.Pretty heavy-sounding stuff for a comedy, isn't it?Trust me on this, it works as a comedy here. In fact, it works as a wildly -- and at times, wickedly -- funny comedy. It works for two reasons, primarily: First off, the laughs aren't "cheap" or forced; secondly, and equally importantly, there is no "butt" of all the jokes . . . each character, even a marvelously ineffective minister (Cedric the Entertainer), is granted his or her validity as a person. (The minister, for example, for all his bumbling, serves to redeem the eldest son -- LL CoolJ -- in a moment of personal crisis.)There is a true universality to this film that, sadly, during its theatrical release, was overlooked by most people due to the fact that it was marketed primarily as a "black" film. It is no such thing. This family, with its individual members and their individual problems, could be ANY family, virtually ANYwhere. The love they rediscover, the strengths and the hope they find, is what 'family' is all about.Come to think of it, DON'T trust me on this; see the film for yourself!