THE STRAIGHT DOPE:
Kingdom Come seems to evoke a genre of storytelling sadly absent from filmmaking: Those traveling gospel-soul musicals with titles like "Mama Said Jesus Don't Cook No Hog Maws on Sunday!" that advertise late at night during "Showtime at the Apollo". While much more subdued - and not entirely a musical (more on that later) - Kingdom Come shares the same preoccupations with family, religion, death, and food.

Some of the performers bring energy to the film. Devine is perfect as the religious relative. She perfectly understands how this role needs to be played: Both exaggeratedly and as a real person. Fox has the relatively dull role of "the good wife" but she comes off well. LL Cool J doesn't exhibit much charisma or humor, which is surprising given his years of sitcom practice, but he doesn't play it too heavy-handed either. Pinkett-Smith definitely acts to the stars and, while a little grating, her coffin-side breakdown is pretty funny. Goldberg, however, weighs down every scene she's in with her condescending brand of self-importance. Didn't she use to be a comedian?

The short running time is also bogged down with endless musical interludes, with songs playing at length while characters run to and fro. The film culminates in an embarrassing Pinkett-Smith sing-along that seems totally out of place. Fans of hip hop holy roller Kirk Franklin, whose songs serve as much of the score, will enjoy the style but others will get bored fast. Still there are a few telling moments (like Cedric's preacher advising his congregants to "Call God, don't call me"). Overall, however, Kingdom Come could use either a stronger dose of emotional complexity or a higher degree of screwball zaniness. Preferably both.

VIDEO:
The anamorphic widescreen video looks pretty good. The cinematography is sharp and colorful and makes the most of its locations. No obvious compression errors appear.

AUDIO:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio is also fine. The movie is filled with music and it sounds good. English and Spanish subtitles are available.

EXTRAS:
An audio commentary track from director Doug McHenry almost sounds like a joke. He recounts where each and every location was and drops filmmaking nuggets like "You can make a scene longer or shorter with editing". Hopefully if McHenry's rap classic Krush Groove ever hits DVD he'll let someone else assist in the comments.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Kingdom Come is a film that slipped completely under the radar and will catch the eye of lots of DVD fans due to its big cast. While not a complete disaster, it seems poorly thought out and shallow. It's not without a few charms, but overall it needs more depth and feeling to earn its wings.