Fresh
Its pastoral ambitions compensate for its lack of finesse.
Eric D. Snider, Film.com
Black Nativity
The Musical Event of the Holiday Season
2013 · 1h 33m · PG
Drama, Music
Directed by
Kasi Lemmons
Overview
A street-wise teen from Baltimore who has been raised by a single mother travels to New York City to spend the Christmas holiday with his estranged relatives, where he embarks on a surprising and inspirational journey.
Director and cast
- Kasi Lemmons Director
- Forest Whitaker as Reverend Cornell Cobbs
- Angela Bassett as Aretha Cobbs
- Jennifer Hudson as Naima
- Tyrese Gibson as Loot / Tyson
- Jacob Latimore as Langston
- Mary J. Blige as Platinum Fro
- Nas as Street Prophet (Isaiah)
- Vondie Curtis-Hall as Pawnbroker
- Luke James as Jo-Jo / Joseph
- Grace Gibson as Maria / Mary
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
49%
Tomatometer
Rotten
All of Black Nativity proceeds with sort of clumsy obviousness.
Wesley Morris, Grantland
Rotten
By the time the credits rolled, my eyes were sore from all the rolling.
Calum Marsh, Village Voice
Fresh
Even the movie's most wretched characters glow in the Harlem lamplight.
Mark Jenkins, NPR
Rotten
Takes Hughes' nativity story and shoves it into the far background of a sincere but tritely told modern drama about family, faith, and redemption.
Ty Burr, Boston Globe
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