“Sparkle” is the remake of a 1976 film of the same name. The film is set during the Motown Era – in and around the city of Detroit in the late 60’s. “American Idol” winner Jordin Sparks stars as the title character. Her passion is writing music, and her oldest sister (named Sister) performs the songs Sparkle writes. Sparkle meets Stix (played by Derek Luke). He thinks that Sparkle, Sister and their other sister named Dolores (whose dream is to go to medical school and become a doctor) all have talent and should form a singing group, which he’ll manage, with the hopes of having them all make it big.
But their mother Emma (played by the late Whitney Houston) does not approve. She was once a singer, but never made it big and is still dealing with issues from her past. Emma is a strict, church-going mother who wants to keep her daughters from making the mistakes that she did. But with fame and fortune calling will the girls listen?
“Sparkle” is a musical drama that takes itself seriously. There are plenty of songs, but they’re performances by the characters in their roles, not characters singing dialogue as part of the script (as in “Rock of Ages”). The storyline is simple – this is a big-screen soap opera, with romance and good guys and bad guys and people chasing dreams and success and failure. What makes it work are the believable performances from the entire ensemble cast.
Sparks, as you would expect, handles the singing portion of her role quite well, but she also shows here that she can act. The Sparkle character actually isn’t the main focus of the film until the third act, which didn’t bother me as much as it may others. Mike Epps plays a famous comedian who takes an interest in Sister. This subplot includes some of the more dramatic scenes in the movie. And “The Voice”‘s Cee-Lo Green makes a brief appearance early in the film as a night club performer.
But the main reason to see “Sparkle” is for Houston. This a supporting role, but when Houston is on screen you can’t take your eyes off of her. And you can’t help but feel the truth in her dialogue, especially when she talks about the troubles in her life and how tired she’s getting. Houston also has a showcase song (“His Eye is on the Sparrow”) that reminds us just how talented and gifted she was.
“Sparkle” is rated PG-13 for some violence, adult language and smoking. It’s appropriate for teens and up. Houston also has a duet with Sparks during the end credits called “Celebrate”, which honors her life and legacy.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “Sparkle” gets a B. The story has some holes and there are some technical issues but this is a case where the performances and the music outweigh the flaws.