Joyful Noise

Queen Latifah has one nice dramatic moment, and Dolly Parton blows the doors off of one gospel song in Joyful Noise, but movies aren’t like SportsCenter—you don’t just watch for the highlights. Almost everything else about this faith-based movie is awkward. It’s uncomfortable enough watching Dolly Parton’s stretched face cover the entire screen without a parade of lame jokes about her character’s trips under the knife. There also seems to be a lot of premarital-sex talk for a movie of this ilk, and during the sneak preview, the biggest laugh came when a man died after the unholy act. The music is tepid when it should be the driving force, and on the one occasion when Dolly lets loose, it’s pushed to the background for the unnecessary reunion of minor characters. Joyful? That’s debatable. But it’s certainly noise.