Black Nativity Review

Black Nativity

2.5 stars out of 4

By Brett Takeshita

Black Nativity is your standard, safe, and family-friendly Holiday movie fare. However, strong performances and joyous musical numbers elevate this film beyond television-movie level status. 

Langston (Jacob Latimore), a precocious teenager with a good head on his shoulders, lives with his caring single mother, Naima (Jennifer Hudson). Due to family financial struggles, Naima sends Langston to move from Baltimore to New York City, where he will stay with his estranged grandparents, Reverend Cornell (Forest Whitaker) and Aretha (Angela Bassett). Langston is highly uncomfortable with his strict, religious grandparents and wishes to journey back home to reunite with his mother. While on his journey, Langston discovers the truth about his family's past and the importance of faith.

Writer-director Kasi Lemmons, who adapted this film from Langston Hughes' play, doesn't take many risks, but instead chooses to go with a safer, more predictable route that she knows will entertain audiences. And she succeeds. I often found myself smiling throughout this warm film filled with good intentions. The positive messages and uplifting nature of Black Nativity prove to be such a refreshing change of pace from so many of the other wide releases that have been coming out in theaters. Who would've thought that a film that focuses on faith, spirituality, and love is actually palatable, and occasionally, even downright touching?

Lemmons fills her script with characters that aren't exactly complex. We've seen many of these characters before. However, the excellent actors bring their own spice to these characters and elevate the material at hand. Newcomer Jacob Latimore shows much promise and plays Langston as a sympathetic hero whom we absolutely care for. Forest Whitaker and Angela Bassett are wonderful presences on-screen, humanizing these God-fearing elders who could've easily been cold, boring robots if played by less successful actors. Their performances, especially towards the heartwarming ending, are affecting in their depth. We don't get to see much of Naima in this film, but Jennifer Hudson gives a lovely, affectionate performance. And you won't believe how good she is in her musical numbers.

Speaking of the music, which ranges from gospel-tinged R&B to clean upbeat hip hop, it is stirring and uplifting. I am a big fan of urban contemporary music, so the songs in Black Nativity were right up my alley. Plus, the songs are a refreshing change of pace from the more classical, traditional vocal pop songs that we've come to expect from other holiday musicals. Lemmons directs the musical numbers with a lively energy that proves to be a nice change of pace and tone from the occasionally heavy drama at hand. It's interesting that some of the music is incorporated straight into the story at hand, but we aren't really sure if they are asides or part of the real world. Some of the music is done in dream sequences that lend an authenticity to the picture and prevent it from being too hokey and unrealistic.

While it is never particularly surprising and while some of the dramatic twists near the film's end prove soap operatic, Black Nativity is a lovely Christmas film for the whole family. It's like a warm cup of hot cocoa on a cold winter's night -- soothing, comforting, and sweet.