Todd Graff’s latest movie, Joyful Noise, gives gospel choir music a complete makeover, bringing in renowned divas Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton to create an impressive, resonating soundtrack. Graff continues on his mission to celebrate musical rhythms that are not quite out of style yet, having paid tribute to Broadway standards in Camp, 70s rock in Bandslam, and now gospel.

The story, set in the small town of Pacashau, Georgia, follows two strong lead women, G.G. Sparrow (Parton) and Vi Rose Hill (Latifah), whose musical tastes meld together as well as oil and water. Pacashau is facing severe economic downturn, and its residents are relying on G.G., Vi Rose, and the Sacred Divinity Church Choir to bring back some happiness by winning the annual gospel choir competition.

When G.G.’s nephew Randy (Jeremy Jordan) arrives and catches the eye of Vi Rose’s daughter Olivia (Keke Palmer), the two divas’ already turbulent relationship takes a nose dive. The discord eventually leads to a particularly entertaining showdown that has bread flying, nostrils flaring, and nails scratching amidst a wide-eyed, unsuspecting restaurant audience.

Despite having Latifah and Parton on board, Jordan and Palmer’s good looks and remarkable voices stand out as the main highlights. Palmer’s soul-stirring, gospel rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Man In the Mirror” is the first of many incredible songs in a movie that shines brightest when its characters raise their voices. The soundtrack praises God in a new way, turning songs by Sly and the Family Stone, Usher, Paul McCartney, and Stevie Wonder into jubilant expressions of faith.

Joyful Noise is far from ground-breaking in terms of its storyline, with a fairly predictable sequence of events and mostly typecast characters. Bad boy Randy, for one, has an uncanny resemblance to Footloose’s Ren McCormack in both his looks and the way he shakes up a backwater community’s cultural and musical scene. The story itself is squeaky-clean, with a few too many subplots; it aims to include a little something for everyone, but instead falls short in creativity and disappoints tremendously.

An abundance of biting, yet witty Southern humor keeps the movie going, adding definition to the wide spectrum of relationships that are presented. Sassy lines are fired left and right, including kickers like “I’d call you stubborn, but that would be an insult to mules.”

The movie is nothing if not musically rich, but it is grossly lacking in fresh characters and gripping plots. Though it flirts with the issues of racial rivalries and internal family strife, the storyline is too clean for any real tension or unresolvable conflicts to arise.