 Glitter (2001) Producer: "Well, what are you waiting for, girl, go make your own Purple Rain!" If Glitter had been a straight-to-VH1 movie instead of a theatrical release, no one would be so giddy to dismiss it as a catastrophe. People chew down the media's spin on stuff like this, relishing the opportunity to tarnish an icon's career or contribute to their supposed downfall. Now, I'm not really a Mariah Carey fan per se, but I see no evidence that she is truly on the wane as an artist, nor a particuarly bad actor. Glitter is by no means a great film, but neither is it a steaming piece of Collie shit like Sweet Home Alabama. Mariah plays Billie Frank, an orphaned child with a powerhouse voice who just wants to be loved. Well, isn't that what we all want? She goes from rags to riches, with the expected complications, downfall, and redemption. Max Beesley provides the poor man's Ewan MacGregor as Billie's producer boyfriend, and Da Brat fills the film's Cedric Quotient™ (CQ). It's a pleasant enough way to pass an hour and a half. Mariah is nowhere near as bad as she has been made out to be; in fact, she has a lot of charisma if no particular screen acting rudiments. I was struck by how, compared to the current stable of Top 40 vocalists (and especially their "American Idol" wannabes), Mariah is truly and deservedly a star. Her voice is phenomenal, she writes her songs, she has gigantic presence. Why does everyone hate her, again? My favorite scene was when she gives her boyfriend a Yamaha DX-7 synthesizer as a present. More movies should feature synthesizers.
Review by Andi Ampersand |