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Sparkle2012 | 116 min | PG-13 | 2.39:1
“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. 
A young woman interested in the art of songwriting, Sparkle (Jordin Sparks) relies on her gorgeous older sibling, Sister (Carmen Ejogo), to sell the music on stage, wowing Michigan audiences in 1968 with her swagger and vocal gifts. Catching the attention of aspiring manager Stix (Derek Luke), Sparkle persuades Sister and second sibling Delores (Tika Sumpter) to form a girl group, Sister and her Sisters, taking Detroit by storm with their sex appeal and fluid musical style. Trying to work nightclubs without Emma (Whitney Houston), their devout mother, catching on to their plans, the trio skyrockets in popularity, snatching the attention of comic Satin (Mike Epps), who senses Sister’s desperation to escape her small life, marrying her against Emma’s wishes. While Stix has big plans for the group, Sister is pulled away by drug and domestic abuse, leaving Sparkle and her professional ambitions to die a slow death. “Sparkle” is a decidedly simple feature that’s nearly impossible to follow. A lot of time and sweat has gone into the recreation of 1968 Detroit, with exceptional costumes by Ruth E. Carter bursting with color and texture, while the nightclub scenes are dripping with R&B vitality, capturing the creation of a sound in motion. Despite its eye candy, Akil completely botches the passage of time, making the events of the film look as though they occur over the course of a single week. There’s nothing here that communicates the monthly, perhaps yearly effort, with Sister and her Sisters going from a club act to opening for Aretha Franklin in a matter of scenes, leaving the viewer disoriented. Music clues are confusing (at one point, Sparkle watches Nancy Sinatra perform “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’” on television, yet the song was a hit in 1966), and the characters never age or engage in any political movement that could identify the date. It’s all a fog of activity without necessary perspective, erasing a critical need to understand the commitment of the characters and their patience with Sister’s unsavory business. “Sparkle” is a lost movie without mile markers to assist sympathy, wandering around the Crayola script by Mara Brock Akil without a clear direction. 
Akil is making a melodrama here, and one bursting with musical numbers, even saving a song for Houston, who peaks with a gospel tune engineered to take advantage of her rusty pipes (she sounds terribly weary and husky during the movie). The soundtrack is enticing, best with boppy soul numbers (Cee-Lo cameos as a local star) rather than the slow jams used to play up Sister’s sultry method of catching stage attention, but it’s not enough to cover the erratic characterizations, with enormous concern emerging with Satin, a one-dimensional monster the screenplay employs in a shameless manner. Although the comedian wrestles with his defeatist racial humor, selling his soul to appease Caucasian audiences, Satin is basically the villain of the piece, destroying Sister with drugs and violence (Akil’s staging of one of their belt-wielding blowouts is embarrassingly amateurish), making the rise and fall of the group all too easily telegraphed. Producer/pastor T.D. Jakes guarantees a surface element of religious comfort and redemptive possibilities for Sister, but the film plays Satin’s presence in a cartoon manner, weakening his importance to the story. 
Supporting characters slip in and out without much reason, a pass at a love story between Stix and Sparkle is never developed properly, and the whole idea of Sparks as a sex object feels about as appropriate as a Lucite heel on Cinderella. She’s charmingly sincere as the titular character, but Sparks never registers as an adult in a way the script requires. The concept of exterior appeal also applies to Sister and her Sisters, who are seldom appreciated for their vocal talents, only the lead singer’s lusty stage presence. Akil adds to the confusion with random stabs at style, forgoing a visual consistency to grab a few elaborate images of screen communication that pop immediately due to their oddness. “Sparkle” is a disappointment, especially when it features a foundation that could support a ripe musical melodrama, leading with hearty songs and heavy hearts. It worked before, yet it fails miserably here, sure to leave fans of the original picture and Houston devotees with a pounding headache. Starring: Jordin Sparks, Whitney Houston, Derek Luke, Mike Epps, Carmen Ejogo, Michael Beach Director: Salim Akil » See full cast & crew |
 
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