Release Date:
04/11/2000
Taking a moment to descend from her perch in the Center Square, WhoopiGoldberg returns to the big screen in this family comedy, sinking her teeth into a role thats about as juicy as a rice cake. Coughing up dry chunks of bland script, Whoopi plays Raynelle Slocumb, the relieved widow of a terminal hard-ass. When Bud Slocumb, the cantankerous curmudgeon, keels over in his kitchen, his family, a parade of mildly amusing caricatures, reunites for the purpose of tossing his corpse into its final resting place. Family dysfunction is often a good way to set the stage for comedy, but with few exceptions Kingdom Come misses its mark.
Cedric the Entertainer, one of the Original Kings of Comedy, is always a hoot, but here he doesnt get enough screen time to really sustain a laugh. The large-and-in-charge Loretta Divine (of Waiting to Exhale) is great as the dead guys shrill-voiced, scripture-quoting sister, Bible-thumping her way through some well-paced banter opposite Darius McCrary as her wayward son, Royce, a.k.a. Demonseed.
Based on the stage play Dearly Departed, this movie cant decide if it wants to be a rollicking, absurd comedy or a melodramatic message film. Its as if an office temp was copying a couple of scripts and miscollated The Klumps and Soul Food, alternating pages from both. Despite the wealth of talent and star power, (Cedric, Whoopi, Vivica Fox, L.L. Cool J, and Jada Pinkett Smith) the comedy falls flat, leaving a wake of half-baked jokes with a churchy, grandma-friendly interface.
Cedric the Entertainer, one of the Original Kings of Comedy, is always a hoot, but here he doesnt get enough screen time to really sustain a laugh. The large-and-in-charge Loretta Divine (of Waiting to Exhale) is great as the dead guys shrill-voiced, scripture-quoting sister, Bible-thumping her way through some well-paced banter opposite Darius McCrary as her wayward son, Royce, a.k.a. Demonseed.
Based on the stage play Dearly Departed, this movie cant decide if it wants to be a rollicking, absurd comedy or a melodramatic message film. Its as if an office temp was copying a couple of scripts and miscollated The Klumps and Soul Food, alternating pages from both. Despite the wealth of talent and star power, (Cedric, Whoopi, Vivica Fox, L.L. Cool J, and Jada Pinkett Smith) the comedy falls flat, leaving a wake of half-baked jokes with a churchy, grandma-friendly interface.