![]() ![]() Having a relationship with the Lord is one of the three things she requests of her daughters (along with respect and value upon education). She lets the youth of her church watch an hour of her color television in exchange for some Bible study time. Emma wields her faith almost like a weapon. Religion plays an interesting role in Sparkle. And we feel Omari Hardwick's lovesick frustration as Levi, who tries to woo Sister despite his modest means. Derek Luke is earnest, believable, and enjoyable to watch. The male characters fare much better both in how they're written and acted. Her acting is decent, and her performance of "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" late in the film is riveting. While it's good and a bit haunting to see Houston here, she seems tired throughout the film. Sumpter, with the least screen time, is the best of the three. At times she seems up to the task, but in other key moments she's emotionless and a little lost. Jordin Sparks is not going to pull a Jennifer Hudson with this performance (Hudson won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 2007's Dreamgirls). The singing and performances are great, the acting less so. Scorned by men (see?!) and the music industry, she hides her angst and fear behind her fervent religious practice. How these three grew up in the same family is rather remarkable (read: implausible). Sparkle is the Church Mouse, who wants to please and doesn't have the ambition to match her talent. Dee is the Brain, the strong, goal-oriented, verbal brawn of the bunch. Sister is the Sexpot, who keeps making stupid choices in men to try to attain the lavish lifestyle she wants. The group is set and Stix goes about getting them gigs, and the requisite fabulous coordinating dresses.Īll of this would work if the characters weren't so thinly and familiarly drawn. ![]() Dee, biding her time until medical school, figures why not. Sister, home from a failed marriage and desperate to make enough money to move out, is in. Because she's not confident enough to command the stage on her own, Sparkle begs her sisters to join her and form a girl group, all the rage at that time. ![]() And a new boyfriend, Stix (Derek Luke), who wants to be the next Berry Gordy (founder of Motown Records) and sees great potential in Sparkle's songs. And that more involves anything but following in her footsteps into the music industry.īut Sparkle has a dream. Houston plays the sisters' mom, Emma, a washed-up singer turned good church-going woman who wants more for her three daughters. Deborah Martin Chase, who produced this new version, had been working with Whitney Houston ( Sparkle executive producer and a co-star here) for over a decade to remake the film, and, sadly, it wound up being Houston's final project. The original 1976 movie was set in 1950s Harlem and starred Irene Cara as Sparkle and Philip Michael Thomas as her boyfriend/manager Stix. In fact, this isn't the first time Sparkle has hit the big screen. But also the stereotyped characters and well-worn plotlines. The great costuming and late-60s nightclub vibe. So much of what's right and wrong with Sparkle is packed in those opening scenes. Five minutes later the sisters are on a bus home, hoping to sneak in before their overprotective mom wakes up and realizes they've been gone. Sister does take the stage and belt out a vampy song, much to the delight of the men in the audience and the joy of her sister, Sparkle, who wrote it (well, thanks to Curtis Mayfield). One, dressed in a sexy silver dress, is getting ready to perform, and the other, dressed in a demure sweater and skirt, is begging her not to back out. It's 1968 Detroit, and we open with two young African American women in a nightclub. (Oh c'mon, as if that's any kind of spoiler). So we watch the familiar unraveling, shaking our heads at the screen over all the lost potential, all the unnecessary carnage. ![]() Why, why, why do women in musical girl groups ever try to find love? Haven't they seen the other movies? Don't they know that men will be their downfall? The Anderson sisters-Tammy (known as Sister, played by Carmen Ejogo), Dee (Tika Sumpter), and Sparkle (Jordin Sparks)-apparently haven't been warned. ![]()
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