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Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes
Lou Lumenick, New York Post: A family-friendly, Hallmark Channel-ready musical dramatic fable whose plot more closely resembles Spike Lee's "Red Hook Summer.'' Read more
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: "Black Nativity" is such a likable and positive experience that you readily forgive its bumpy moments. Read more
Justin Chang, Variety: A bold but clumsy attempt to bring Langston Hughes' popular musical to life onscreen. Read more
Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, AV Club: Black Nativity is a cut-rate musical melodrama that grafts overreaching references to black culture onto a facile family-values narrative. Read more
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: The singing is terrific, particularly whenever Hudson belts out a number (and there is really no other way to describe her powerhouse vocals). But the story is trite and predictable, if heartfelt. Read more
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Takes Hughes' nativity story and shoves it into the far background of a sincere but tritely told modern drama about family, faith, and redemption. Read more
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: I'm glad to see [Lemmons] working, but this tired product won't do anything for her reputation. Read more
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Whitaker's performance is the rock here. Even when the confrontations and evasions get a little ridiculous, he's neither wholly saint nor sinner, but something like a human being. Read more
Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: Powered by an infusion of gospel and hip-hop that cleverly bridges gaps between generations and values. Read more
Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: It's good to see Hudson in a major film again. As an actress, she's still a work in progress, but she has a commanding gift for depicting vulnerability and strength almost simultaneously. Read more
Tom Long, Detroit News: Hudson soars (duh) on the vocal numbers, and Whitaker (double duh) is a tower of integrity and crushingly human. But "Black Nativity" isn't about stars, it's about unity, faith and family. As such it shines. Read more
Cary Darling, Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com: It doesn't matter that not all of the songs are memorable or that the performances are of varying success, the warm-hearted Black Nativity feels tailor-made to fit with the good tidings of the season. Read more
Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly: Kasi Lemmons' Black Nativity is a lot like a glazed holiday ham: sticky, sweet, and all too easy to mess up. Read more
Stephen Farber, Hollywood Reporter: A first-rate cast enlivens this ambitious but syrupy holiday musical. Read more
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: "Black Nativity" struggles mightily. Read more
Randy Myers, San Jose Mercury News: It's a sweet-natured tale that goes down smoothly, and Lemmons ("Eve's Bayou") has done an admirable job of putting a contemporary spin on the beloved Hughes seasonal favorite from the '60s. Read more
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: The story has its origins in Hughes work, but it's been adapted, expanded and, well, heavily rewritten by director Kasi Lemmons, who apparently thought she could improve it. Yes, that's right. She thought she could improve Langston Hughes. Read more
Mark Jenkins, NPR: Even the movie's most wretched characters glow in the Harlem lamplight. Read more
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: The movie doesn't weave religion into the familiar structure of a comedy or melodrama. Instead, everything works in service to the sermon at the core. Read more
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: It becomes increasingly clear that the entire movie probably should have been sung. Read more
Michael Sragow, Orange County Register: The melding of a modern family saga with the Nativity is too awkward and hectic to let audiences sit back and appreciate some powerhouse singers and music. Read more
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Black Nativity offers a whopping serving of Yuletide emotion. And it's a musical - with plenty of wailing and rapping on the side. Read more
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: "Black Nativity" deepens into a rich experience once the scene shifts to the inside of a church, but it's a long time getting there. Read more
Kevin C. Johnson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Black Nativity" has its heart in the right place, but that's simply not enough to make it a good movie. Read more
Mary Houlihan, Chicago Sun-Times: Kasi Lemmons' contemporary adaptation is an uplifting holiday extravaganza with a musical score filled with familiar spiritual standards plus some new songs by Raphael Saadiq and Laura Karpman that underscore themes of faith, healing and family. Read more
Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: The corny, greeting-card feel of the second half weakens what begins as a creatively rendered take on a holiday film. Read more
Keith Uhlich, Time Out: Almost every beat of Langston's tale, with its absent father figures and heated gun-pointing melodrama, rings false-hardly a fitting contemporary complement to the Greatest Story Ever Told. Read more
Claudia Puig, USA Today: Based on the play by poet/activist Hughes, this updated faith-based tale features rousing musical numbers and a well-meaning, if predictable, story, marked by unlikely coincidences. Read more
Calum Marsh, Village Voice: By the time the credits rolled, my eyes were sore from all the rolling. Read more
Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: It doesn't always work as drama, but as a musical, it's often fantastic. Read more
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: By the time the film reaches its biblically inspired dreamscape of a climax, "Black Nativity" qualifies as equal parts surreal and stirring. Read more