"KINGDOM COME"
(2001) (LL Cool J, Jada Pinkett Smith) (PG)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Moderate	Minor	Heavy	Minor	Mild
Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Mild	None	None	None	Mild
Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Moderate	Mild	Heavy	Heavy	Mild

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QUICK TAKE:

Comedy: Various members of a somewhat dysfunctional family assemble for the patriarch's funeral and try to deal with their various issues and problems with each other.

PLOT:

On a hot summer day in the town of Lula, family patriarch Woodrow "Bud" Slocumb keels over from a stroke, an incident that surprises but doesn't terribly upset his wife, Raynelle (WHOOPI GOLDBERG). That's because she claims he was nothing but mean and surly for most of their marriage, although one night of passion resulted in their young adult daughter, Delightful (MASASA).

The word of the death soon spreads throughout the family with the various members then assembling for the funeral. Among them is Ray Bud Slocumb (LL COOL J), who never got along with his father and hates funerals, and his wife Lucille (VIVICA A. FOX) who's still upset about her latest miscarriage. Ray's not happy that his broke and out of work brother, Junior (ANTHONY ANDERSON), along with his wife, Charisse (JADA PINKETT SMITH), and three kids will be staying with them, particularly since Charisse has just discovered another pair of woman's earrings in the backseat of their car.

Then there's Marguerite (LORETTA DEVINE), Woodrow's scripture-spouting sister who's upset with the way her adult son, Royce (DARIUS McCRARY), is leading his life and hopes to live off welfare. Wealthy family relative Juanita Slocumb (TONI BRAXTON) also arrives on the scene, as does Ray's boss, Clyde (RICHARD GANT), who's rarely seen without a beer in his hands.

As Reverend Hooker (CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER) consoles the family and prepares the service, they must deal with greedy funeral home directors Antoine (DOMINIC HOFFMAN) and Merline Depew (PATRICE MONCELL) as well as their differing opinions and family squabbles.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?

Those who are fans of anyone in the cast may want to see it, as might African-American kids since the film features an African-American cast. Beyond that, however, it's not likely that other kids will want to see it.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG

For thematic elements, language and sensuality.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:

LL COOL J plays the deceased's eldest son who doesn't like funerals and is concerned with how much his father's is costing him. He briefly uses some profanity and battles his desire to take up drinking again (he does drink some).

VIVICA A. FOX plays his wife who's the family peacemaker and is still upset about her latest miscarriage.

ANTHONY ANDERSON plays Ray's broke and out of work entrepreneurial brother who's recently been unfaithful to his wife. Once she discovers this, he does everything within his means to win her back and get her to forgive him.

JADA PINKETT SMITH plays his wife who's extremely upset with him having an affair along with their overall marriage.

LORETTA DEVINE plays a sanctimonious aunt who's concerned about her less than ambitious son.

DARIUS McCRARY plays that son whose chief ambition is to live off welfare. He smokes, apparently drinks and does other things (we see a bong and empty beer bottles in his place), and presumably fools around with a woman.

TONI BRAXTON plays a family relative who married into money and isn't above letting others know that.

CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER plays the reverend with a lisp who's to preside over the funeral and must contend with some intestinal problems during the service.

RICHARD GANT plays Ray's boss who's apparently an alcoholic as we see him drinking nearly all of the time. He also hits on various women.

WHOOPI GOLDBERG plays the matriarch of the family who obviously didn't like her husband (claiming he was mean and surly) and must deal with the various funeral arrangements.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

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Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

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OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

The following is a quick look at the content found in this PG-rated comedy. Profanity consists of 1 "s" word and several other expletives, while some colorful phrases and non-explicit, but sexually related language also occur. Most of the latter deals with a woman who had an affair with one of the married men (with him thus having a bad attitude), but we don't see any of their encounter. We do, however, briefly see a woman go into a man's bedroom and jump on him in bed, but nothing else is seen.

Various other characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, some of which result in tense family moments related to strained marriages and the death of a family patriarch. A few characters smoke and drink, with one apparently having an alcoholism problem and another having one in the past. Some humor attempts to be derived from the sounds of a man having some intestinal problems (diarrhea and passing gas sounds).

One character pulls a gun on his wife during an argument (not really played out to be a suspenseful scene as the attempt seems to be for comedy although it will likely disturb some viewers), while a few instances of people hitting or striking others are also present. Thematic elements/topics to discuss include death, alcoholism, affairs and miscarriages.

If you find that you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may want to see it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed content listings for more specific examples of what occurs in it.

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ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE

We see some empty beer bottles and a bong in Royce's bedroom and his mother sarcastically questions him (on the phone) if he's suffering from a hangover.

Ray's boss, Clyde, drinks beer and indicates that Ray formerly had a drinking problem (after making a comment about Ray's father being the first one who bought Ray a beer).

Marguerite tells Royce that life isn't just about drinking and loose women.

Lucille takes some sort of "nerve" pill while getting some for Charisse.

Ray drinks liquor from a brown paper bag and then pours some into Junior's cup. A while later, we still see Ray drinking from the brown paper bag. He then hands it to Junior who drinks from it.

Clyde drinks a beer at the funeral home and we then see that he's carrying what's left of a six-pack.

Ray imagines his dead father sitting up and telling him that what Ray needs is a drink.

We see Ray stopped in front of a liquor store talking to himself, stating that liquor won't help him and that he needs a reason to drive on (he gets one and does so).

Clyde drinks some more and appears a bit inebriated.

We see various empty beer bottles in Royce's place.

Clyde and another man pop open some beer in church during a funeral.

BLOOD/GORE

We see Royce sitting on a toilet, but don't see any nudity or hear/see any bodily functions.

We hear diarrhea-like sounds coming from the bathroom where Rev. Hooker is having some intestinal problems. Later, when he's addressing the funeral gathering, we hear intestinal gurgling sounds and then various farting ones as he excuses himself to head for the bathroom.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE

Some viewers may take offense to comedy stemming from a character who lisps.

Raynelle reports that her late husband cursed her out for wanting to become more active in the church.

Junior and Charisse argue in front of their three young kids, with him eventually pulling out a handgun and aiming it at her (supposedly played for laughs) until she tells him he needs to get a job to pay for bullets.

Charisse discovers that Junior had an affair with another woman in the backseat of their car.

Royce states that his goal in life is to find a Christian woman, settle down, have kids and then collect welfare.

Ray is mad at Junior for wanting an expensive casket when he knows that he'll have to pay for it (since Junior has neither money nor a job).

Juanita is a bit conceited about herself and her lifestyle.

Clyde cozies up to various women, including Marguerite and Raynelle in a fashion that's not welcomed by the ladies.

Various people disrupt and/or are disrespectful at a funeral (Junior trying to tell Charisse he's sorry, Clyde opening a beer, etc.).

FRIGHTENING SCENES

During an argument, Junior pulls out a handgun and aims it at Charisse, telling her he'll shoot her (and then himself) if she keeps talking about one particular subject. She then tells him he needs to get a job to pay for some bullets (indicating the gun is empty). The scene isn't really played out to be suspenseful, as the attempt seems to be for comedy, although it will likely disturb some viewers.

GUNS/WEAPONS

Handgun: Briefly held by Junior on Charisse.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR

Phrases: "I've had it up to here with this sh*t," "Oh, hell no," "God awful," "Right down the crapper," "Shut up," "Idiot," "Whoop that ass," "Keep your drawers on" (as in be patient), "Painted up like a two dollar whore" and "Where the hell is the preacher?"

We see that Royce has a tattoo on his arm.

During an argument, Junior pulls out a handgun and aims it at Charisse, telling her he'll shoot her (and then himself) if she keeps talking about one particular subject.

JUMP SCENES

None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)

None.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)

None.

PROFANITY

At least 1 "s" word, 11 damns, 4 asses, 4 hells, 1 crap (as in "crapper"), 3 uses of "God," 2 of "Oh my God" and 1 use of "Swear to God" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY

Raynelle tells the Reverend that she cut off her husband in the past and that there wasn't as much as a warm handshake in twenty years, except for one time that resulted in Delightful's conception.

Charisse discovers that Junior had an affair with another woman in the backseat of their car (but we don't see any of the sexual activity). Ray and Junior later discuss that, with Junior mentioning the other woman and Ray showing surprise and then holding out his hands to suggest that the woman is well endowed. Junior then agrees, stating (but not finishing), "Bernice with the two..." (large breasts).

Marguerite tells Royce that life isn't just about drinking and loose women.

Trying to make up with her, Junior partially climbs on top of Charisse in bed, but the look she gives him sends him retreating over to his side.

A woman comes into Royce's room wearing a cleavage revealing top and she rushes over and jumps on top of him on his bed, but we don't see anything else.

Ray imagines his dead father sitting up and telling him, among other things, that his brother (Junior) can't keep his pants zipped up.

A person mentions that Bernice (the woman who Junior had an affair with and who's acting somewhat sexual toward a man she's standing in front of), will lift her skirt for anyone. Charisse then states that she can't believe that Junior "did it" to Bernice, and Marguerite mentions that she could name off the men who are there who've done things with Bernice.

SMOKING

Royce smokes several times (and has an unlit cigarette over his ear in one scene), while a woman briefly smokes.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES

The family patriarch, Woodrow "Bud," dies at the beginning of the film, so there's reaction to news of that as well as the various family members dealing with the funeral preparations, etc.

We learn that Raynelle and her husband didn't have a happy marriage and she states that he was just mean and surly. We also learn that none of the kids were close to their father either.

Junior and Charisse already have a strained marriage when she learns of his affair and things go downhill from there (although they eventually get back together at the end). During this, he drives down the road in a hurry, announcing that he's going to kill all of them in a crash and then even points a gun -albeit empty - at her in front of their young kids during an argument (saying he'll kill her and then himself). She then reassures the kids that their daddy was just playing.

Royce and Marguerite have a tense son/mother relationship.

There's some talk about Lucille having a miscarriage and that putting some stain on her and Ray's marriage.

Ray and Junior get into an argument that leads to Ray punching Junior in the gut and the two of them then wrestling while standing, and then on the floor (with Ray having Junior in a headlock, etc.). They later make up.

Juanita indicates that her marriage isn't perfect.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT

Death and funerals.

Family dynamics, especially when put under the stress of assembling for a family funeral.

Affairs.

Alcoholism.

Miscarriages - Ray briefly describes Lucille having one (in a fried chicken bucket/box while on bed rest).

VIOLENCE

During an argument, Junior pulls out a handgun and aims it at Charisse, telling her he'll shoot her (and then himself) if she keeps talking about one particular subject. She then tells him he needs to get a job to pay for some bullets (indicating the gun is empty). The scene isn't really played out to be suspenseful, as the attempt seems to be for comedy although it will likely disturb some viewers).

After discovering another woman's earrings in the backseat of their car (indicating Junior had an affair), Charisse briefly attacks him as they drive down the road.

Marguerite starts hitting Royce with whatever she's carrying (her Bible, perhaps) when mad at him.

Ray and Junior get into an argument that leads to Ray punching Junior in the gut and the two of them then wrestling while standing, and then on the floor (with Ray having Junior in a headlock, etc.).

Charisse throws a beverage in Junior's face and then throws the empty cup that hits him in the face.

Marguerite slaps Clyde and then goes after him after he makes a move on her.

Reviewed April 2, 2001 / Posted April 11, 2001

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