Product: Kingdom Come (2001)
Rating: 5.0
Family values and family follies : a heartwarming comedy ...
... about a family, the Slocumbs, that gathers for the funeral of its patriarch, Bud, about whom his widow (Whoopi Goldberg), asked by a minister to share happy memories, can only muster the words "He was mean, and right surly." Whoopi's character is as cool as the Buddha, except for one outburst of wrath at her bickering children.LL Cool J plays the son of the deceased, Ray Bud, a hard-working auto mechanic; he contends manfully against alcoholism and a short fuse, while his wife Lucille (Vivica A. Fox) is a supremely sweet-tempered woman, unable to conceive a child.Another son of the deceased is Junior (played by Anthony Anderson), who has lost all his money on an unwise business venture, and whose perpetually carping and combative wife Charisse (Jada Pinkett Smith) has just discovered another woman's earring in the family car. She is ... not pleased. They have, in addition to their financial and marital woes, a trio of untamable children.There is a daughter named Delightful (played by an actress named Masasa). She does not speak a single word from opening frame to closing credit, but steals just about every scene that she's in.The American treasure Loretta Devine (Dreamgirls, Waiting to Exhale, Boston Public, Funny Valentines) plays Aunt Marguerite, a born-again Christian widow, whose son Royce (Darius McCrary of Family Matters) is a feckless party-animal collecting an unemployment check. Aunt Marguerite gives new meaning to the word "Bible-thumper," as she is often seen whacking her son on the head with a copy of the Good Book, and calling him a demon.And then there is the minister, a good-hearted soul (Cedric the Entertainer), prone to platitudes delivered lispingly, ample of appetite, and sometimes dyspeptic. As Whoopi describes her late husband in unflattering terms, we hear the minister huskily sigh and see him reach for his antacid.I found this to be an enjoyable and ultimately uplifting film. Not always subtle, no deep message (unless it's the minister's "What is yesterday but the tomorrow we thought we could not face the day before?"), but heartwarming, and an ode in praise of the cohesion of family with all its flaws and follies and foibles. Also, a message of trust in God, highlighted by some hip-hop gospel on the soundtrack by Kirk Franklin and company.But mostly, I found it funny. And find it funny, after having seen it several times.