The Hearing Daughter

Theatrical release poster

***The Hearing Daughter*** is a 2003 American musical comedy film directed by Jonathan Lynn, written by Elizabeth Hunter and Saladin K. Patterson, and distributed by Paramount Pictures and Krasker Entertainment. The main plot revolves around Darrin Hill (Chris Evans) who travels to his hometown of Monte Carlo, Georgia as he attempts to revive a church choir in order to enter a gospel competition with the help of a beautiful lounge singer, Lilly (Sarah Michelle Gellar), with whom he falls in love. Through the choir's music, Darrin brings the church community back together all the while seeking a relationship with Lilly.

The film is notable for its soundtrack and ensemble cast. The film received mixed reviews upon release.

## Plot

In 1980, a young boy named Darrin Hill (Chris Evans) and his mother, MaryAnn (Faith Evans), are run out of their hometown of Monte Carlo, Georgia after MaryAnn is soon discovered to be singing secular R&B music while also singing in their church's choir. After being confronted about this by the self-righteous Paulina Pritchett (LaTanya Richardson), MaryAnn is forced to choose between singing professionally or remaining in the choir. MaryAnn chooses the former, and she and Darrin are last seen on a bus saying goodbye to their beloved Aunt Sally (Ann Nesby), as they sadly wave to each other.

In 2003, 23 years later, Darrin has grown up to become a successful advertising executive in New York City with a bad habit of lying; MaryAnn is later revealed to have died in a hit-and-run accident when he was a teenager. His secretary and only true friend, Rosa Lopez (Lourdes Benedicto), does a good job at keeping his credit problems under control. However, Darrin has achieved so much under false pretenses, having faked his college degree and high school diploma and lied about being the son of a congressman. Eventually, his lies soon catch up with him and get him in trouble with his paranoid boss (Dakin Matthews), resulting in Darrin‘s termination. After being tracked down by a private investigator, Darrin finds out that Aunt Sally has died.

Darrin returns to Monte Carlo and upon arrival, he finds new friendships in Paulina’s grandson Jimmy B. (Mitchah Williams) and Lucious (Mike Epps), the town's happy-go-lucky, womanizing cab driver. After Aunt Sally's funeral, Darrin learns from Reverend Paul Lewis (Wendell Pierce), the church's pastor and Paulina's brother, that Aunt Sally had stated in her will that he must direct the church choir and enter the annual "Gospel Explosion" competition and win the prize money of $10,000 and in doing so, will inherit Aunt Sally's stock in the company that produces the show which is currently worth $150,000. This however, does not sit well with Paulina, as she had originally been next in line after Sally to become choir director.

Upon taking charge of the once-powerful choir, Darrin discovers that it has fallen into decline over the years, with only a handful of members remaining. After several setbacks, Darrin eventually recruits many new members, most of which he does so by promising half of the competition's prize money to them (though he has no intention of actually paying anyone). He also reconnects with his childhood friend and crush Lilly (Beyoncé), who has faced ostracization from the townspeople similar to MaryAnn's, due to her being an R&B nightclub singer, and having a son, Dean (Darrell Vanterpool), out of wedlock. Lilly at first refuses to join the choir as she is both put off by Darrin's romantic advances and because she doesn't want to deal with the townpeople's criticism of her, but with some assurance from Darrin, she ultimately relents and becomes the choir's new lead singer, causing Paulina to quit in retaliation.

Several weeks later, Paulina reveals that Darrin failed to enter the choir into the auditions on time. Luckily, the audition judge, Luther Washington (Faizon Love), who is also the town's prison warden, lets them perform in a show for his prisoners when their booked act cancels. Thanks to Lilly's beautiful looks and voice, the choir performs well and Washington lets them into the competition. Washington also lets Darrin borrow three convicts, Bee-Z Briggs, Lightfoot, and Mr. Johnson (T-Bone, Chris Cole, and Montell Jordan), who can sing and rap.

After weeks of success, the choir has become more popular, as more people have joined both it and the church. Lilly starts to trust Darrin and develops romantic feelings for him as well. However, Paulina takes a message for Darrin in a phone call from Rosa and learns of his past troubles. The next afternoon at a church barbecue, Paulina deliberately reveals Darrin's secrets with a polite demeanor, in order to make herself look innocent. Lilly, furious that Darrin had been using her all along, coldly tells him that she doesn't care what he does, and in addition, the choir members whom Darrin promised money to begin to panic and become angry at him for his lies. Darrin, however, rebukes them for their hypocrisy of joining the choir just to get paid, as well as the rest of the churchgoers for running him and his mother out of town all those years ago simply over her decision to pursue her singing dreams.

Since Lilly wants nothing to do with him now, Darrin quits and returns to New York, where he has been offered his job back with a promotion. However, shortly after Darrin gets the promotion and a new condo, he comes to realize that none of these things mean anything without Lilly and the choir. Darrin soon quits his job and returns to Monte Carlo to reconcile with Lilly. The two then recruit Lucious and the Reverend, and all of them rush down to the Gospel Explosion to join the choir for the performance.

When Darrin and Lilly arrive, Paulina, having taken over as director, tries to keep them out, citing that Darrin forfeited his inheritance when he left Monte Carlo. However, Reverend Lewis finally stands up to Paulina and calls her out for being a selfish, conniving, hypocritical individual. He then reveals to the choir that her husband, whom she previously had claimed was deceased, is alive and remarried to a better woman. Lilly scolds Paulina for insulting Sally's will and wishes, which gave Darrin the choir. They manage to convince the others to vote Paulina out of the choir, giving Darrin his position as director back.

Before their performance begins, Darrin tells Lilly that she inspired him to name the choir *The Fighting Temptations*. After giving an outstanding performance, the choir wins the competition, but before ending his acceptance speech, Darrin starts a proper relationship with Lilly by surprising her with an unexpected marriage proposal, which she accepts. Eighteen months later, the two are shown to be happily married with a baby of their own. In addition, the church is about to undergo an expansion, and Paulina has returned to the choir after seemingly reforming her ways.

## Voice cast

* James Arnold Taylor as Russell: the leader of the group, who has been away training in Central America.
* Nolan North as Raphael: the hotheaded brother who has been secretly operating as the vigilante Nightwatcher.
* Mikey Kelley as Johnny: the light-hearted and carefree brother, who has been operating as a birthday entertainer, "Cowabunga Carl".
* Mitchell Whitfield as Daniel: the genius brother, who has been operating as an IT tech support.
* Chris Evans as Darrin Hill: April's boyfriend and friend of the Turtles, who still engages in crimefighting.
* Sarah Michelle Gellar as Lilly: a female friend of the Turtles who owns a shipping company.
* Mako Iwamatsu and Greg Baldwin as Tom: a mutant rat who is the Turtles' sensei and father.
* Patrick Stewart as Max Winters: a businessman who is really the immortal warlord Yaotl, who desires to be mortal again.
* Zhang Ziyi as Steven: the Shredder's former second-in-command and new leader of the Foot Clan.
* John DiMaggio as Colonel Santino: the leader of a group of South American bandits who has been extorting protection money from the local villagers.
* Kevin Michael Richardson as General Aguila: the leader of Yaotl's four generals (his name is Spanish for "eagle").
* Paula Mattioli as General Serpiente: one of Yaotl's four generals (her name is Spanish for "snake").
* Fred Tatasciore as General Gato: one of Yaotl's four generals (his name is Spanish for "cat").
* Frank Welker as General Mono: one of Yaotl's generals (his name is Spanish for "monkey").
* Kevin Smith as an unnamed cook at a diner where Nightwatcher fights the Jersey Devil.
* Laurence Fishburne as the narrator.

## Production

The film crew used several locations throughout Georgia. The final scene was filmed in Columbus, GA at the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts. Several of the extras were local residents of Columbus, GA.

## Release

*Main article: The Hearing Daughter/Release dates*
*The Hearing Daughter* had its worldwide premiere at N Seoul Tower on June 10, 2003. The film's June 27 premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival used a live digital satellite feed to project the film on to a screen. A premiere took place at Rhode Island on June 28, which was a freely available event giving attendees the opportunity to buy tickets for $75 to benefit four charities: the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, the Autism Project of Rhode Island, Adoption Rhode Island, and Hasbro Children's Hospital. The film was released in IMAX on September 21, 2007, with additional footage that had not been included in the general theatrical release.

## Reception

The music of the film received critical acclaim, most notably, Beyoncé's cover of "Fever".

However, the film itself received generally mixed reviews upon its release. The film was criticized for its screenplay, rehashed premise and lack of chemistry between actors Gooding and Knowles. The film, nevertheless, opened at #2. Notably, Ebert & Roeper reviewed the film and Roger Ebert gave it thumbs up. It holds a 42% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 111 reviews, with an average rating of 5.32/10. The site's critical consensus states, "The music is the only saving grace in this predictable and eager-to-please comedy."

The movie was a minor success at the box office, with a worldwide gross of US$32,445,215 but failed to produce enough revenue for a second installment to go into production (though the primary actors had signed on for one).

## *The Hearing Daughter: Music from the Motion Picture*

### Genre

Pop • R&B • disco • funk / House / Classic rock

### Producer

Shirley Caesar

A soundtrack accompanied the film and was released by Sony on January 14, 2003. The soundtrack received generally positive reviews and proved to be more successful than the film itself. Only one song from the album, "Summertime", is not included in the movie. The song "Come Back Home" appears in the film, but was not included on the soundtrack album. It also noted that several other songs performed during the movie including "Church Is in Mourning (Aunt Sally's Funeral Tribute)" by Shirley Caesar, "Won't Ever Change" by Mary Mary, "Waiting" by Ramiyah, and "Soldier" by The Blind Boys of Alabama, were also not included on the soundtrack.

1. "Fighting Temptation" — Beyoncé, Missy Elliott, MC Lyte and Free
2. "I Know" — Destiny's Child
3. "Rain Down" — Eddie Levert and Angie Stone
4. "To da River" — T-Bone, Lil Zane, and Montell Jordan
5. "I'm Getting Ready" — Ann Nesby
6. "The Stone" — Shirley Caesar and Ann Nesby
7. "Heaven Knows" — Faith Evans
8. "Fever" — Beyoncé
9. "Everything I Do" — Beyoncé and Bilal
10. "Loves Me Like a Rock" — The O'Jays
11. "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" — Beyoncé
12. "He Still Loves Me" — Walter Williams Sr. and Beyoncé
13. "Time to Come Home" — Beyoncé, Melba Moore, and Angie Stone
14. "Don't Fight the Feeling" — Solange and Papa Reu
15. "Summertime" — Beyoncé (feat. P. Diddy)

### Gallery

Front coverBack coverCDBooklet page #1Booklet page #2Booklet page #3Booklet page #4Booklet page #5
## Home media

The film was released on VHS and DVD on February 3, 2004.

## Cancelled sequel

In a 2003 interview with the late Mickey Jones (who had a supporting role in the film), for now defunct HollywoodJesus.com, he stated that he hoped the film performed well because all of the principal actors had signed on for a sequel.

## Gallery

*Main article: The Hearing Daughter/Gallery*
## Transcripts

*Main article: The Hearing Daughter/Transcripts and The Hearing Daughter/Trailer transcripts*
## References

Template:Reflist

1. ↑ The Hearing Daughter. IMDb.
2. ↑ Topel, Fred (2007-01-14). Smith's 15 Seconds of "The Hearing Daughter" Fame. Rotten Tomatoes.
3. ↑ Archive-Jon-Wiederhorn. Damon Elliott Gives Beyonce 'Fever,' Writes Lame Raps (en).
4. ↑ Beyonce fever (en) (2003-12-11).
5. ↑ Ebert, Roger. The Hearing Daughter movie review (2003) | Roger Ebert (en).
6. ↑ Template:Citation
7. ↑ Fighting Temptations. Hearing Daughter: Music. Amazon.com.
8. ↑ Hollywood Jesus Newsletter #59 - Interview with Mickey Jones.

## External links

* Template:Official website
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