Starring Diana Ross, Brandy, Christine Ebersole, and Brian Stokes Mitchell
Directed by Robert Allen Ackerman
Music and Lyrics by various
We transition from Black History Month to Women's History Month this week with two TV movies featuring black actresses and singers. Ross mostly stayed away from films since The Wiz flopped in 1978, while Brandy Norwood was an up-and-coming R&B star who had a smash success in the lavish ABC version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella two years before. Ross finally returned to films with this soap soul drama that paired her and Brandy as a mother who tries to direct the career of the daughter she'd abandoned years before. How does all this look now? Let's begin in 1981, as a music executive tells aspiring singer Olivia King (Ross) that she might have a job waiting for her in New York and find out...
The Story: Olivia's husband Adam (Mitchell) is totally against her having a music career, so she leaves in the middle of the night, vowing to return for their daughter Kayla. 19 years later, Kayla (Brandy) is now an aspiring singer who admires Olivia King. She's thrilled when she wins a contest to see her idol in concert and enjoy a night out with her. She's so thrilled, she invites Olivia to see her perform in a local club. Adam's not as happy with Olivia's attempt to get back into their daughter's life...and neither is Kayla when she learns the truth.
Olivia finally convinces Kaya to join her in New York. She introduces her daughter to everyone she knows in the music industry, finally getting her signed to a recording contract. Olivia wants to be in her daughter's life, but her attempts to direct Kayla's career drives her into the arms of handsome older music executive Rick Ortega (Allen Payne). Kayla's bitterness towards her mother boils over at a Grammy party and during a concert where her mother's performance steals her thunder. She moves in with Ric, just as the press gets word of her true parentage. Olivia flees to a cabin to avoid the scandal, followed by Kayla when she learns Ric's true colors. Mother and daughter have a lot of talking to do, but they finally come to realize just how much they have in common.
The Song and Dance: Ross and Brandy are backed by a terrific cast of stage actors, some of them making rare TV appearances. Mitchell plays off both well as the concerned father who worries he's losing both his ladies. Payne makes a suitably smarmy record executive who thinks he's the one in charge of Kayla's career. Some of the music isn't bad, either, including a decent "He Lives In You" from The Lion King. Ackerman specialized in TV movies revolving around strong women - he went on to do the Emmy-winning miniseries Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows two years later - and that shows in performances he coaxes out of Ross in particular.
The Numbers: The film opens with Olivia singing "Back In Love With Me Again" at the lounge in 1981. Nineteen years later, she belts "He Lives In You" from The Lion King II at the concert Kayla wins tickets to. Kayla's first number is the sultry "Almost Doesn't Count" at the club. She sees her mother sing "Someone That You Loved Before" at another concert, but she's not as happy to agree to join her backstage. The mellow R&B ballad "Have You Ever?" is the first song Kayla records after she gets that contract, and she's good enough to impress the producer (Harvey Firnstein). Olivia records her own sultry ballad, "Until We Meet Again." "Happy" is Kayla's number at her first major concert; "Carry On" is the upbeat dance number Olivia grooves to that upstages her. They finally come together in the finale for "Love Is All That Matters."
What I Don't Like: This is pretty obviously a TV movie that was shot in 20 days. The costumes are relatively lavish, especially Ross' sequined gowns, but the sets are minimal. The story is a huge pile of cliches that finally collapse onto themselves around the time Kayla suddenly realizes that mothers do know best in this case and Ric is more interested in his career than hers. This isn't for someone who's not into R&B or is looking for more action and less soap opera. The music is basically the two leading ladies bringing whatever they recorded in their last albums, and except for "He Lives In You," isn't terribly memorable.
The Big Finale: Worth checking out for fans of the two leading ladies or late 90's R&B for the songs and performances alone.
Home Media: Easily found on DVD and streaming. The latter is currently free at Tubi with commercials.
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