I'll be the first to admit it: movie musicals don't appeal to me. Maybe I should clarify; I don't like movie musicals in the classic sense. Sure I like movies with musical scenes, such as the parade scene in "Ferris Bueler's Day Off," but when a character is in mid sentence and suddenly breaks into song (with everyone else around them oblivious to the fact that this person is now singing), that's where you lose me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that movie musicals can't be good. Quite the contrary, "The Wizard of Oz" and "The Blues Brothers" are classics, and as much as I thought I would hate it, I enjoy watching "Moulin Rouge." However, films such as "Singing in the Rain," "West Side Story," and "Chicago" just do not appeal to me, and although I've seen them once, I will not go out of my way to see them again.

With that said, I had the opportunity to see the latest musical offering out of Hollywood, Paramount Picture's "The Fighting Temptations" staring Academy Award Winner Cuba Gooding, Jr., and Beyoncé Knowles. Also Produced by MTV Pictures, this film has "movie musical" written all over it. Yes, I had a bit of trepidation going into the theater, thinking I was about to be subjected to two hours of "church" humor, and choir songs sung by, *gulp*, Cuba Gooding, Jr. Thankfully, I'm happy to report that I walked out of the theater smiling, with songs stuck in my head, and ready to buy the soundtrack. Heck, I was ready to start dancing in the aisle!

The story starts out simple enough: Darrin Hill (Gooding) is a purported "successful executive" in New York City who has come back to his home town of Montecarlo, Georgia for the funeral of his recently departed Aunt Sally. Aunt Sally was loved by the community, and kept everyone abreast of how successful Darrin was; he the local-boy-done-good. However, it was all a sham. Darren hadn't talked to Aunt Sally in years, and although he was working his way up an Advertising company's ladder of success, it was all built on lies. Darrin is knee-deep in debt, and was recently fired from the Ad Agency. When Aunt Sally's will dictates that Darrin take over the local church choir and lead it to the Gospel competition, Darrin declines. But when he finds out he will inherit Aunt Sally's shares of Georgia Telecom (valued at $150,000), Darrin decides to take on the challenge to help bail him out of debt. Since everyone in town is under the impression that Darrin is successful, he builds on the lie by telling them he is a Record Executive, and continues to deceive everyone as he helps to form a rag-tag choir filled with convicts, sinners, and drunks, with Lilly (Knowles) as his lead vocal talent. How can he lose? Of course, everything starts to fall apart around him, and Darrin must choose between facing the truth or continuing his life of lies.

Darrin's plight aside, the real strength of the film is in its ancillary characters. In the role of "Leading Lady" Lilly, Beyoncé Knowles fills the beautiful, struggling single Mom role perfectly. Thankfully, she is someone who can act well and sing wonderfully, so she is a delight to watch. I wonder if I'm the only one who scratches his head every time I hear (or write) the words "Academy Award Winner Cuba Gooding, Jr.?" As I watched the film, I started thinking about who else could have been better for the part of Darrin Hill, since the films opening scenes were definitely not endearing me to his performance. Unfortunately, I couldn't think of any, but as the film progressed, I started to see why he was cast in the role. Cuba bounces across the screen in his typical acrobatic, lunatic style, but that's what the part calls for.

Lucius (Mike Epps) helps to pull both leads along with his constant smooth one-liners and style. Paulina Pritchet (LaTanya Richardson) is hilarious as a rule abiding jealous biddy who's comments elicited quite a few "Oh No She Didn't"'s from those around me. Inmate Johnson's (Montell Jordan) falsetto voice is played for laughs, but not to death.

The heart of the film is of course the choir itself, and the accompanying vocal talent. Gerald Levert, Yolanda Adams, Reverend Shirley Ceasar, and Faith Evans all lend their incredible voices to a soundtrack guided by "Jimmy Jam" and Terry Lewis.

So, does all of this sound a bit like Whoopi Goldberg's film "Sister Act?" Well, yes and no. "The Fighting Temptations" falls somewhere between "Sister Act" and "The Blues Brothers." Whereas "Sister Act" built it's comedy on the fact that the choir was a bunch of "white people singing gospel," this film is significantly stronger on the musical talent, and doesn't downplay the fact that this is an Gospel Church with a rocking, Gospel choir. Of course, the film as a whole doesn't reach the level of "The Blues Brothers," but I'm willing to bet the church and prison scenes will remind you of the film (and for all I know, could be odes to the film as well).

Yes, this film will end up falling on my "tolerable" movie musical list, because "The Fighting Temptations" is definitely an enjoyable film. Anyone who doesn't end up tapping their foot along with the music either has no rhythm, or their legs are asleep. The songs are in the film because they belong there, and no one breaks into song that shouldn't. Oh, and Cuba doesn't sing, so that's a plus as well.

Now if someone can just explain to me what Rue McClanahan is doing in this film...?