![]() Tristar pictures did a nice job bringing the late 60's Motown world to life with all of its funky soul and gospel power. As usual, we'll start with the things that did impress me in this film and the first thing I'll mention is the setting. Will she succeed? Does it sound interesting to you? It didn't to me, but I went to this film hoping to be surprised or impressed by something. However, Sparkle's life has some complications that will test her character and squash her dreams, especially from her mother (Houston). To her luck, a young upcoming agent named Stix (Derek Luke) pursues Sparkle and her sisters and attempts to help make them stars in Motown. Sparkle (Jordin Sparks) has a dream to make it big as a musician, but her stage fright and lack of confidence leaves her hiding in the shadows while her sister Sister(Carmen Ejogo) lights up the stage. Instead I went to see the latest musical drama entitled Sparkle, a movie about an African American girl of the same name. However, I haven't received the gift to see dead people, nor have I gone crazy. And Sparkle as a solo act (with backup singers, a gospel choir and a full pit orchestra) brings down the house.I'm seeing ghosts! At least I thought I was when I saw that Whitney Houston was starring in a movie. "Sister and Her Sisters," the original trio, come across as a gifted American Idol version of Diana Ross and the Supremes, which I think is the idea. The basic purpose of the film is to fit the story into wall-to-wall music, and it does that with style and energy. I won't say more about Satin, except that the character inspires a prison sentence that is treated by the film with curious superficiality. The most electrifying scenes involve the destructive comedian Satin, a local celebrity, who finds Sister in love with the sincere young man Levi ( Omari Hardwick), humiliates him, sweeps her up, gives her a diamond and in what seems like days is knocking her around and has her addicted to cocaine. ![]() The screenplay by Mara Brock Akil, inspired by Joel Schumacher's original for the (lesser) 1976 movie "Sparkle," follows well-worn showbiz patterns as the girls go from rags to riches to tragedy to comeback. We are meant to believe these early steps in their career were made possible when they sneaked out of their bedroom windows at night apparently Emma had no hint of their subterfuge. That comes after the three girls have taken the first steps in a musical career masterminded by a nice guy named Stix ( Derek Luke), who meets Sparkle at church, falls in love, and produces their first shows. Carmen Ejogo, who you may recall as Thomas Jefferson's lover in the TV series "Sally Hemmings," steals the film not only in her sultry singing numbers but in her violent marriage to a snaky, evil comedian named Satin ( Mike Epps). She lives and breathes music and fills notebooks with her songs but doesn't have the courage to face the spotlight as the movie opens she's backstage urging Sister to solo, which Sister, after a show of reluctance, does - sensationally. The shy sweetheart is Sparkle, played by the perfectly named American Idol winner Jordin Sparks. The most serious is college student Dee ( Tika Sumpter), apparently the first woman they've ever seen who wears an Afro. The most fragrant flower in the bouquet is slinky, sexy Sister ( Carmen Ejogo).
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