The Family That Sings Together...

Started the day with Sparkle. Sparkle (Jordin Sparks) is a young woman in 1968 Detroit whose secret, innermost dream is to become a professional songwriter and a star. Trouble is, she's too shy to sing her own songs. Her older sibling Sister (Carmen Ejogo) is far from shy - she's the sexy bane of their strict, religious mother (Whitney Houston). Mama had been in the music industry, but didn't last and became an alcoholic before finding religion. She wants to keep her daughters away from the path she lead. The second oldest (Tika Sumpter) is fine with this - she really wants to be a doctor, not a singer. Sparkle and Sister, however, are determined to make it. Sparkle falls in with sweet Styx (Derek Luke) who becomes their manager. Sister becomes involved with Satin, a comedian (Mike Epps) who tells racist jokes to white audiences on television. Unfortunately  Satin not only turns abusive, but turns Sister onto drugs, too. Things come to a head when the other two discover what Satin's doing. When Sister sacrifices herself for the good of the others, Sparkle finally decides that it's time to let her own voice shine.

First of all, keep in mind that I've never seen the 1976 film this is based on, so I can't make comparisons there. It's a crying shame Houston didn't live to see this released late last summer. There's some really fabulous performances here, including Houston as the strong-willed matriarch, Epps as the comedian who gives up dignity for fame and fortune, and Ejogo as the doomed Sister. Sparks and Luke do less well - you'd never believe they were two crazy kids hoping to make it in the late 60s music business.

What I like here is the intimacy. Unlike Dreamgirls, this is really just the story of one family of strong women and how they cope with a tough industry and changing times. Houston has a grand time raising the roof with one of the two big numbers (the other is Sparks' finale).

It does have some harrowing scenes of domestic abuse that were hard for me to watch, and may be difficult for other people who have witnessed abuse to handle, too. The other big problem is the music. Other than Houston's rousing church number, it's just...blahh, and often feels more like late 90s-early 2000's Destiny's Child than 60s-early 70s Motown. Sparkle may be determined, but her music is flat.

Otherwise, I very much enjoyed this. The drug use and abuse sequences definitely make this for teens and adults, but if you're a fan of Houston, Sparks, Dreamgirls, or the original film, you may want to give this one a try.

It was past 1:30 when I finally made it to the laundromat. It was busy and noisy with people chatting over talk shows. I just barely got a washing machine! Thankfully, it had cleared out considerably by the time I needed a drier and was almost empty when I left.

I quickly put the laundry away and made leftover Bean Vegetable Soup for lunch while watching a second-season Sailor Moon episode that also involved performance. Raye turns her organizing her school's spring fair and talent show into a way to show off her own singing and songwriting talents. When a monster disrupts the show, Raye learns that it takes teamwork to really make a star shine.

Work was pretty much the same as yesterday - busy up until around 8, on-and-off steady thereafter. There were no major problems (other than I'm still really sore). In fact, I got a hug from a very sweet little girl after I gave her a sticker.