Irene Cara, Lonette McKee, and Dwan Smith are sensationally sexy, vibrant and appealing leads - and great singers to boot. All the obvious pratfalls of instant wealth and success - egos run destructively amok, drugs, corruption, fighting to retain your integrity, and so on - are predictably paraded forth, but luckily the uniformly excellent work evident in the film's other departments almost completely cancels out Schumacher's flat, uninspired plotting. The story, loosely based on the real life exploits of the Supremes, prosaically documents the arduous rags-to-riches climb of three bright-eyed, impoverished black teenage girl singers who desperately yearn to escape their ratty, unrewarding ghetto plight and make it big in the razzle-dazzle world of commercial R&B music. So it's in her memory I dedicate this review.Ī remarkable example of cinematic alchemy at work, with a trite'n'turgid lump of lead script (penned by numbingly mediocre Hollywood hack nonpareil Jole Schumacher, no less) being magically converted into a choice chunk of exquisitely gleaming 24-carat musical drama gold thanks to brisk direction, fresh, engaging performances, spot-on production values, a flavorsome recreation of 50's era New York, an infectiously effervescent roll-with-the-punches tone, and a truly wondrous rhythm and blues score by the great Curtis Mayfield. Houston as the mother, my heart broke when I realized she wouldn't live to see the result which will be released this August. When I read the obits of Whitney Houston yesterday and found out about her involvement in an upcoming remake with Jordin Sparks as the title character and Ms. The drama was maybe a little too quick the way they were presented but overall, I very much liked Sparkle. It was also a nice treat to see Don Bexley-best known to me and others as Bubba on "Sandford and Son"-as one of the M.C.'s. The presentations of the performances are very good especially when Ms. The original songs are by Curtis Mayfield who was from Chicago of which I'm also a native of.
Philip Michael Thomas also appears as Stix who's originally one of two male members of the group before becoming the groups' manager later on. It's about a trio of Harlem sisters consisting of Lonette McKee (Sister), Dwan Smith (Dolores), and Irene Cara (Sparkle). As an original audience member of both productions, I have seen a lot of similarities in both stories to "Sparkle," as well as in "Saturday Night Fever," "Fame," "Flashdance," and the off-Broadway smash hit "Mama, I Want To Sing."Īfter several years of reading about this musical film, I finally watched Sparkle on Netflix Streaming.
NO DOUBT SPARKLE MEANING MOVIE
This movie could have possibly spawned the ideas of creating "Dreamgirls" on Broadway, and Mariah Carey's "Glitter," 25 years later. From being subjected to situations that almost leave no choice for strong long-term decision-making, to making the ultimate sacrifice in order to get ahead, all three young girls, Sparkle, Sister, and Delores, represent the different routes that one could take when you set out to achieve your ideal opportunity as your contribution to society. The phenomenal music written and composed by Aretha Franklin and Curtis Mayfield, the soundtrack carries the plot with every song.
This story could simply become the biographical story of many young aspiring artists about what could materialize when things seem to happen too fast and role models are not available to lend a helping hand.
27 years later, it is still an original inspiration for achieveing my goals that I have set to accomplish since that time! This tragic story of a hard-core "behind the scenes" of the entertainment industry during the late 50's, "Sparkle" successfully portrays the struggle of three young sisters looking for their place in the sun. Thomas in 1977 and immediately fell in love with it. I was 5 years old when I saw this musical movie while on vacation with my family in St.
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