Film Review – Sparkle

“Sparkle” is a film that should’ve snapped together beautifully. Boasting a promising director in Salim Akil (“Jumping the Broom”), an earnest performance from star Jordin Sparks, and period setting drenched in the miracle of the Motown sound, the feature is also a remake of a 1976 Joel Schumacher-scripted cult hit, which came to inspire the Broadway hit “Dreamgirls.” The material is there for the taking, but “Sparkle” is a disaster, choked out by some of the worst displays of botched screen storytelling I’ve seen in some time. It’s a heartbreaker, especially with all this talent waiting to pounce on the electricity of the premise, not to mention the final screen appearance of Whitney Houston, who passed away in February. Instead of a celebration of music, the movie is a tonal wreck. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com