Joyful NoiseMovie Reviews

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So-so
Avg. Critic Score: 44 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
12 OK for kids 12+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 75
    Slant Magazine |

    Joyful Noise certainly has its demographics covered. Read full review

  • 67
    St. Petersburg Times | Steve Persall

    Joyful Noise is a good movie when it lifts up its heart and lets people sing. Read full review

  • 67
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    The movie's musical numbers are catchy and rollicking and, in their bright sunshiny way, rather soulful. Read full review

  • 63
    New York Observer | Rex Reed

    Grousing aside, this is a disarmingly sweet movie, enjoyable to the hilt, with music that really stomps. Read full review

  • 63
    Philadelphia Inquirer | Carrie Rickey

    Though one wishes Graff's eye were as developed as his keen ear, he elicits rafter-raising musical performances from Latifah, Palmer, and Jordan that are irresistible fun. Read full review

  • 50
    Variety |

    A routinely plotted competition drama in which Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton (playing her first bigscreen lead in 20 years) vie for control of a small-town Georgia church chorus. Read full review

  • 50
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    Joyful Noise seems tailor-made for an audience of churchgoers and "Glee" devotees. Read full review

  • 40
    Village Voice | Melissa Anderson

    Speaking of camp, the diva battle teased in the trailer for Joyful Noise between its two stars, Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton, flatlines, as do most of the movie's jokes. Read full review

  • 40
    The New York Times | Stephen Holden

    A lower echelon of musical comedy hell (or heaven, if you love the hoariest musical comedy clichés). Read full review

  • 38
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    Joyful Noise is an ungainly assembly of parts that don't fit, and the strange thing is that it makes no particular effort to please its target audience, which would seem to be lovers of gospel choirs. Read full review

View more reviews for Joyful Noise on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says OK for kids 12+ Uplifting but cliched film has great songs, bland story.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that, overall, Joyful Noise is more wholesome than not, despite some swearing (including "s--t" and "bitch") and sexual content (kissing/making out; implied sex between adults). Set in a struggling Georgia town where the only thing giving residents hope is a church choir on the way to the regional sing-off, the movie also has some moderate conflict between choir members, a fist fight that leaves two teens bloody and bruised, and angry confrontations between a teenage girl yearning for independence and her mother, who wants to protect her. But the characters generally want the best for each other, and the movie's underlying uplifting messages are about faith and spirituality.
  • Families can talk about Joyful Noise's messages. What do you think filmmakers want audiences to take away? How can you tell?
  • Are the characters (particularly the teens) believable? Do you think their decisions are relatable?
  • Talk about the relationship between Olivia and her mother. Why are they fighting? Is it possible they're both right?
The good stuff
  • message true3 Positive messages: A dying Georgia town has little to cheer except the church choir that's on the way to the regional sing-off championship, and even the people who are losing their jobs and struggling to keep their families together in tough times find joy in singing and their faith.
  • rolemodels true4 Positive role models: Just about everyone in this film is decent, trying to do the right thing. They may not always agree on what that is, and they sometimes get into heated arguments, but everyone basically wants only the best for everyone else.
What to watch for
  • violence false2 Violence: Three teen boys get into a fight that leaves two of them bruised and bleeding. A mother and daughter get into a heated shouting match, and one of them slaps the other. All of the conflicts are later resolved amicably.
  • sex false2 Sex: A young couple flirts with each other in the first half of the film and exchanges a few kisses by the end. Two adults are shown making out feverishly; they're next seen the following morning, with the implication being that they slept together. A woman earns, perhaps unfairly, a unique reputation after a man dies in her bed.
  • language false3 Language: Occasional swearing includes ""s--t," "ass," "bitch," "damn," "hell," "oh my God," and "pissed off." A mother and daughter repeatedly say "bulls--t" during an argument.
  • consumerism false2 Consumerism: A few brands appear onscreen, including Sanyo televisions and Wyndham hotels. A wealthy character sometimes flaunts her money, including her indulgence in cosmetic surgery.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false0 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Not an issue
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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