Joyful Noise [PG]

The small town of Pacashau, Georgia, has fallen on hard times and depends heavily on its Divinity Church Choir to lift its spirits by winning the National Joyful Noise Competition. When the previous choirmaster passes away, the position is given to Vi Rose Hill, over the head of the Church’s most generous patriot, G.G Sparrow. Discomfort ensues as the two women continue to have their little gripes at one another but then their distaste for one another grows inexplicably when G.G’s rebellious grandson, Randy, comes to town and seeks to join the choir to get close to Vi Rose’s talented daughter, Olivia. The sparks between the two teenagers cause more heat then they realise when they begin vying for the choir to change the tunes in their repertoire, but it’s going to take a lot of persuasion to get Vi Rose to see that change might help them make the most joyful noise of all and give them a chance of winning the competition. 

There is something irrepressibly empowering about these church choir musical movies. I don’t think it matters who you are, but when you get to that climactic performance in the competition, you’re on your feet cheering the choir on and dancing around to their songs of choice. You cannot help but beam, absolutely beam, and Joyful Noise was no exception to this fact. Armed with powerful performances, numerous divas, and a captivating soundtrack, this movie really had me from the start. I just loved it. 

The small town of Pacashau, Georgia, has fallen on hard times and depends heavily on its Divinity Church Choir to lift its spirits by winning the National Joyful Noise Competition. When the previous choirmaster passes away, the position is given to Vi Rose Hill, over the head of the Church’s most generous patriot, G.G Sparrow. Discomfort ensues as the two women continue to have their little gripes at one another but then their distaste for one another grows inexplicably when G.G’s rebellious grandson, Randy, comes to town and seeks to join the choir to get close to Vi Rose’s talented daughter, Olivia. The sparks between the two teenagers cause more heat then they realise when they begin vying for the choir to change the tunes in their repertoire, but it’s going to take a lot of persuasion to get Vi Rose to see that change might help them make the most joyful noise of all and give them a chance of winning the competition. 

Without a doubt though, what really makes these types of movies is the soundtrack. It’s a form of musical and it’s also one that has to praise the Lord so obviously the music of choice is going to be gospel, possibly the most passionate and enjoyable music around I think. But then they need to rework the tunes so they appeal to a modern audience and set themselves apart and the soundtrack to Joyful Noise really did this beautifully. Its mixture of gospel, pop, ballads, and even soft rap made it a wholly original and empowering soundtrack and it was this soundtrack that kept the audience rapt. No doubt about it. 

The performances were great, it’s always great to see two divas vying for the limelight; Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton were both brilliant, each one a dazzling diva in their own way and their different styles clashed but then at the same time worked so well together. The script is very good, very cleverly written with some great modern comic references and the voices of the two leading divas as well as the teenagers were epic. 

Starring Queen Latifah, Dolly Parton, Keke Palmer, Jeremy Jordan, Dexter Darden, Courtney B. Vance, and Jesse L. Martin, Joyful Noise is a wonderful movie that’s filled with drama, romance, loss, comedy, and empowering music. I thoroughly enjoyed it.