5 of 5

Having said all that, here are some interesting differences:

The School of Rock makes it abundantly clear that the music is about something more than itself, and that the climactic concert is about something other than potentially winning and making a lot of money. In The Fighting Temptations, on the other hand, there is never any suggestion that gospel music is about anything other than the music itself, or that there is any point to playing at the final competition other than to win.

By the end of School of Rock, we have a good bit of understanding and sympathy for Joan Cusack's character, and she shows herself capable of sympathetic behavior as well as human weakness. In Temptations, … the uptight female figure becomes more and more an antagonist and is finally shamed and disgraced with stunningly unchristian glee by her pastor brother, and sent ignominiously away.

He also writes about the gospel-music-filled flick The Fighting Temptations, released this week on DVD, saying that it "wasn't the film it should have been. This story … just didn't make the grade when the music stopped. Had the acting been as rhythmic as the music, Temptations would have been a lot of fun. While the DVD … sadly doesn't contain a new cut of the film, it does at least contain some extended musical numbers. The DVD gives more of everything—but in this case, less of the dialogue would actually be more in terms of quality."

T-Bone: Gospelalphamegafunkyboogiediscomusic

Copyright © 2004 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

first page |  5 of 5

Related Elsewhere:

From the Streets to the Screen	Printer view
Christian rapper T-Bone makes his film debut in The Fighting Temptations. His character mirrors T-Bone's real life—a former street druggie who finds faith and healing through the grace of God.