Dust off your old choir robe here comes The Fighting Temptations! This Cuba Gooding, Jr./ Beyonce Knowles vehicle delivers lots of fun with little depth. The music is rich and powerful unlike the story, which has been recycled time and time again throughout Hollywood history.

The all-too-familiar premise centers on the death of a rich, long-lost relative who leaves hoards of money to an unsuspecting dope. Said dope finds himself in fish-out-of-water scenario. Hilarious hijinks ensue. But fear not, non-fans of Mr. Deeds or The Bachelor (the crappy Chris O’Donnell/Renee Zellweger flick, not the crappy TV show). The Fighting Temptations has something else up its sleeve music! Music so wonderful, in fact, that it carries this film through a fairly weak plot and a predictable ending.

Gooding, Jr. stars as Darrin, a New York advertising executive who has lied his way up the corporate ladder. Astonishingly enough, he gets fired (for faking his college and high school diplomas) and finds himself in massive debt. When Darrin gets news of an aunt’s death, he hightails it back to his small hometown of Montecarlo, GA.

Darrin finds out he is entitled to a massive inheritance. But there’s a catch he must whip the church choir into shape to win the local Gospel Explosion contest. Darrin struggles to win the help (and heart) of local nightclub songstress Lilly (Beyonce Knowles). Lilly is an old childhood friend whom the town has deemed a sinner for having a child out of wedlock. But, as Darrin so aptly puts it, ‘Jesus forgave Mary Magdalene and she was a ho, too.’

With the eventual help of Lilly and a motley crew of choir members, Darrin manages to create a fantastic choir. The group includes the elderly (yep, that’s Rue McClanahan, otherwise known as Blanche from ‘The Golden Girls’), local barbers and prison convicts. Of course, more obstacles lie down the road. But the choir, named The Fighting Temptations, survives to deliver fabulous performances.

Music is Temptations’ saving grace. Nearly one-third of the movie contains singing and dancing performances so stirring that they almost overcome the mundane plot. The many appearances by famous R’B performers also add to the mix. Look out for Angie Stone, Faith Evans and Mary Mary. Montell Jordan is hilarious as a singing prison inmate with a Mike Tyson-pitched voice.

The acting is just fine in Temptations. LaTanya Richardson is especially hilarious as nasty Faye Jenkins, who bitterly battles Darrin for leadership of the choir. The exception is Beyonce (everyone’s favorite B-named Pepsi spokeswoman since Britney). She delivers all that has come to be expected from a Beyonce film performance: fantastic singing and mediocre acting.

In the end, the gospel performances carry The Fighting Temptations. The great musical arrangements, along with many light-hearted laughs, make the film an easy sit, and the abundant booty references are excellent (southern folk are apparently ‘booty-ologists,’ with different breeds of booty ranging from state to state). The film delivers simple fun and lots of soul. Don’t be surprised to find audiences laughing and clapping together.