'Joyful Noise' too loud and full of slapstick - New York Daily News

Innate star quality is so rare, even stars don’t always have it. But Queen Latifah radiates such effortless charisma that she can elevate the lousiest film. Unfortunately, that effort seems to have become her norm.

“Joyful Noise” is the latest movie to waste her Oscar-nominated talents, following “Just Wright,” “Valentine’s Day,” and “Mad Money” (among others).

Here she plays Vi Rose Hill, a strict single mom raising her teens Olivia (Keke Palmer) and Walter (Dexter Darden) in a small, economically depleted Georgia town.

Already busy with nursing work, Vi Rose also runs the church choir, which is hoping to win a national competition. And that means juggling a lot of difficult personalities and problems. Her longstanding feud with wealthy church patron G.G. (Dolly Parton) threatens to simmer over just as G.G.’s flirtatious grandson (Jeremy Jordan) joins the choir, and Olivia starts rebelling against her mom’s traditional ways.

There are praiseworthy elements, from the high-energy musical scenes to appealing turns from Palmer and Jordan. And unlike most Hollywood movies (or Tyler Perry productions, for that matter) “Joyful Noise” is calmly unconcerned about skin color, uniting a racially diverse cast with matter-of-fact maturity.

It’s clear that writer/director Todd Graff (“Bandslam”) wants to speak directly to the audience that reflects his film: religious, rural, and hit hard by the recession and military sacrifice. This alone makes it a welcome entry: too many pictures address these issues in cynical or patronizing fashion. But that’s no excuse for his painfully obvious script and broad, slapsticky direction.

There are other problems â€" most notably one that cannot be ignored. Parton’s penchant for plastic surgery is commented on several times in the film (especially during a regrettably misguided catfight between the leads). While it’s usually unfair to criticize a performer’s looks, Parton’s starched visage leaves her unable to achieve the most basic duty of an actor: expression.

Fortunately, Latifah is able to carry the movie with a characteristic blend of grace and sensibility. But if she’s hoping for the big-screen career she deserves, it’s time she had a serious talk with a higher power â€" and yes, that means placing a call to her agent asap.

Magic Moment: A show-stopping speech in which Vi Rose sets her confused and resentful daughter straight.

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