Reviews

Despite a strong and talented cast of some of my favorite actors, this movie falls flat. It is long on exposition and extremely short on story, painting the subject with the broadest strokes and failing to flesh her out as a complete character. It had all of the melodrama, flatness, and subtlety of a Tyler Perry morality play without any of the comic relief.

But all is not lost, watch it just to see and hear Ledisi tackle some of the most loved and classic gospel songs that Mahalia made famous. She tears at them with both hands and wrenches out every nuance possible and will have you rewinding some songs to hear them again.

I have intentionally not watched the 1939 classic masterpiece so that I could judge this and the 2017 remake on their own merits without making an impossible comparison. While the latest version is actually watchable and is redeemed by the actors, this one fails on both counts. It did not know if it wanted to try to recapture some of the comedic elements that I understand are the hallmarks of Hitchcock's rendition or be a straightforward mystery thriller. Again, it fails on both accounts. The first half is fine, not good but fine, maybe a 5 or 6. But the second half is cringe inducing in its awfulness. Then it goes completely off the rails at the end with uncharacteristic violence ala Tarantino style shootout. It also goes on much longer than it should. The competing visions are so dissimilar that it feels like two different people directed them or edited them. You do not come across films very often that make you take notice of the editing. This is not a notable distinction.

Cybill Shepard is too inhibited and lacks the eccentricity needed to be good at screwball comedy and Elliot Guild is neither charming nor interesting enough to be a leading man. They have absolutely NO chemistry together and it is completely unbelievable that they would ever get together. She's beautiful, rich, hedonistic, shallow, and vapid. He is supposed to be a war photo journalist who is intellectual, "brave" , but also sexist, judgmental, and condescending with a very limited character arc. What could go wrong? Everything. They both are out of each other's leagues and it is impossible to see what her character would find attractive about someone who is not in her social class, conventionally handsome, wealthy, or particularly nice to her. Marry these deficiencies with a lackluster, unimaginative script and uneven directing and you have this abomination. This is the type of remake that makes you wonder who would greenlight such sacrilege. Angela Lansbury deserved better, she and the cricket guys were actually quite good.

I have read a comment where the contributor described this film as neo-noir; they could not be more off the mark. This film has none of the classic characteristics of film noir--the protagonist is not conflicted or an anti-hero, he is more a victim of circumstances; there is no femme fatale; none of the dark shadows and moody lighting attributed with noir; and most substantial this is not a mystery/thriller, it is a modern crime drama. Jimmy Caan described it as a classic tragedy, I think that this is a more apt description.

First, I must say I really liked this film and more importantly, the performances. I am not going to re-hash the plot, with over 100 postings, my peers have explored the story very thoroughly. I am going to concentrate on the key performances.

Mark Whalberg was fine, it was a very stripped down performance and without passion. I feel that he might have confused minimalism with phlegmatic-ism, the end result was a little wooden--not quite as bad as Keanu Reeves but it could have been infused with some emotion. I got that he just wanted to take care of his mother and stop causing her pain, I know real people in this circumstance; however, Wahlberg's character did not seem to connect with anyone else in a significant emotional way. Even though Charlize Theron may have recycled her performance from such films as "The Devil's Advocate" and "The Astronaut's Wife", it still works fine here. Ellen Burstyn conveyed fragility and optimism very well, she always holds her own around an ensemble of gifted actors. In a departure from the norm, Faye Dunaway delivered a very understated, subtle performance which relied a lot on body language to convey her emotions. What can I say about Jimmy Caan, of course he nails it. Corrupt but has a sense of family loyalty and personal code of ethics. It's not unfamiliar territory for Caan but he is so good in this type of role that you can't wait to see what he will do next. The true standout is Joaquin Phoenix who perfectly demonstrates a wide range of emotions from arrogance, intimacy, anguish, immorality, betrayal, and personal loss and full submission. Phoenix demonstrates what made him so good in "Gladiator"; the true tragic figure who goes from a middle-management criminal to a full scale bad guy willing to do anything to save his sorry hide, albeit unsuccessfully.

I write very few reviews for this site. I write an arts/culture column for a bi-monthly periodical. The point is that I only write about things that elicit a strong personal reaction in me. Unfortunately, this film elicited a very negative personal reaction. Very bad script, production, direction, and acting. Hillary Swank was the only reason I rented this, she is actually not bad but I feel sorry for her to be in this obviously released direct-to-video piece of raw garbage. It is like a bad 80s flick so imagine my surprise to discover it was actually made in the mid- to late-90s.

All of the characters were unrealistic, one-dimensional, and weakly developed. This was John Asher's debut as a director when his previous most memorable role was as Gary on the "Weird Science" TV series. He should not have strayed from in front of the camera. I wish someone would put warning labels on movies like this so that you do not waste your money or more importantly--your time.

I have watched this movie a few times, the first time when it was first released in 1972 and I was barely 4 years old and it has left an indelible mark on me ever since. During this time, most of the films with a predominately Black cast were of the blaxploitation genre. You may think it strange or inappropriate for my parents to take a 4 year old to an "R" rated film but majority of the films with mostly Black casts of this era were rated "R", usually because of vulgarity and violence. My parents eagerly awaited this film and since they could not find a babysitter took me along. They did not expect me to fully understand the film and they probably assumed that I would probably sleep through it (they had me dressed in my pajamas). Even at this young age, I was impressed to see a film on this grand scale that elevated a historical Black icon like Billie Holliday; this was unprecedented and this was not lost on me then or now.

This is an excellent movie and by the rating it has received here (7/10) and the five Academy Awards & three Golden Globe nominations it garnered (Diana Ross won the Golden Globe for Most Promising New Actress); my opinion is not in the minority. While this film may gloss over a lot of Billie's life, the script was based on her autobiography (this may be how Billie chose to remember her past) and the screenplay was also nominated for an Oscar.

Diana Ross did not capture the look and sound of Billie Holliday nor did she attempt to. Diana Ross did not channel Billie Holliday the way that Angela Bassett did with Tina Turner or the way Val Kilmer did with Jim Morrison or how Jamie Foxx did with Ray Charles but she internalized Billie's triumphs, pain, struggles, and personal demons and depicted this exceptionally well and she interpreted Billie's voice by not trying to duplicate the inimitatable but maximized the range of her own voice using Billie's distinctive phrasing and capturing the essence of her spirit while coaxing out a myriad of emotions. The double album soundtrack topped the Billboard charts for two weeks, Diana Ross' only number one Pop album as a solo singer.

This film made me a Billie Holliday fan at age 4. After this film, in addition to Billie, I listened to Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Torme, Nat King Cole, Ethel Waters, and Dinah Washington while my peers were just starting to rock to disco. This film and its music still stands the test of time as implied by the recent success of Diana Ross' CD, "Blue" (which was previously unreleased material originally recorded for Motown as a follow-up to this soundtrack) on the jazz and adult contemporary Billboard charts. Billie Holliday is without a doubt an icon but so is Diana Ross. Most people would have to admit that for a debut performance, Diana Ross did an outstanding job, no matter what you may think of her personally. In addition, for it to be the only screenplay that she has ever written, Suzanne DePasse (who was a Motown A&R executive at the time and was the first and remains the only Black woman to be nominated for an Oscar for writing) created a great story even if it presents a slightly less gritty portrayal of the troubled singer's life.