Kingdom Come
Whoopi Goldberg and LL Cool J lead a strong cast inKingdom Come, one of those the-whole-family-comes-together comedy-dramas that celebrate the transcendent power of love. When the surly patriarch of the family dies, relatives descend upon his widow (Goldberg): his recovering alcoholic son Ray (Cool J) and his wife Lucille (Vivica Fox fromIndependence Day), who have been unsuccessfully trying to get pregnant; the incompetent other son Junior (Anthony Anderson,Big Momma's House) and his jealous wife Charisse (Jada Pinkett Smith) and their three rambunctious boys; the over-religious sister (Loretta Devine) and her shiftless son; and assorted other eccentric characters who generally turn the reception and funeral into a series of squabbling indignities--the kids even wrap the hearse in toilet paper. The movie's script is modest at best and loaded with forced plot points--to no one's surprise, all problems are resolved in an orgy of forgiveness--but the cast handles the material with sincerity and grace. Goldberg rises to the top as the stoic Mama Rae, lacing her bland lines with a dry and biting wit. Cedric the Entertainer (The Original Kings of Comedy) and singer Toni Braxton round out the cast.--Bret Fetzer