Luther: Never Too Much

Two hours in Lutherville!

I'm a huge fan and went in expecting to get a surface story but I left impressed by the textures laid out by the director. It was story told by his dearest friend that gave a window into Luther's creative process.

Our audience was lucky enough to have Kevin Owens there to do a Q&A after the show. I got a chance to ask questions and got insightful answers.

It was a pleasure to sit immersed in such an incredible voice and hear his friends and peers articulate his career nuances. Appreciated the credit given to his writing and arranging skills. Loved this movie! I look forward to seeing it many times again.

I have been a fan of Luther Vandross for over 30 years. Own all his 13 albums including his Christmas album making a total of 14. When I learned that a new documentary will be made on his life, I could not wait to see it. Now that the opportunity has arrived, I would like to say that I have now received my chance to see it. I must say that I came out of it enlightened.

For a while, I have been wanting to see a full documentary on Luther Vandross. Aside from the Journeys in Black mini-documentary hosted by BET, there have been no documentaries on the life of Luther until this day. I would like to send my kudos to the director Dawn Porter for providing us a documentary long overdue.

I am a filmmaker and a student of film, aside from the story being crafted well, it was what any Luther fan could ask for. I have been a fan of his work for as long as I can remember and to see him being honored this way was beautiful. It was a rollercoaster of emotions from glee to sorrow, beginning to end. There were so many great takeaways from the film; one of the biggest was hearing so much of the story told by him. You could feel the love he had for others and the joy he brought radiating through the screen. I cannot wait for the chance to purchase this film, I hope it's available to view again soon.

Had a chance to see this at the Freep Film Festival in Detroit! It was so great! Of course the music was on another level like Mr. Vandross! I learned some more about him. Especially the fact that he went to school at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. He didn't like and left. My daughter said see I told you! She goes to WMU. It had laughter, the audience loved it, because you felt like you were at a family reunion.

He is missed! I saw him when I was 17 years old in Indy. It was him Cheryl Linn, Ashford and Simpson and Ready for the World! They all put on a great show! I am glad I did!

Using a wide array of archive and some fairly honest and potent interviews, this documentary presents us with a short biopic of rather an enigmatic gent. Initially, his dulcet tones earned him a decent enough living doing lucrative commercials and providing backing vocals until a session with David Bowie started his career on a largely unhindered upwards trajectory. His associations with Aretha Franklin, Bette Midler and Roberta Flack, his total - almost perfectionist - commitment to his art and his cheeky sense of humour all contributed further to a success that transcended not just US racial boundaries, but also physical international ones too. I wasn't really that aware of his music, but watching this does effectively illustrate just how many songs he was behind - writing and/or performing, that are more familiar than I'd expected. This also wasn't a messy man. He wasn't in and out of the papers with stories of his life, his lifestyle, his drinking or drug taking - he actually comes across as a remarkably stable man in many ways, even if his solution to problems he faced was to reach for the fried chicken bucket or the ice cream spoon. Happily, we don't really focus too much on the personal life. Perhaps because his own comments of "mind your own **** business" are echoed by the film's contributors who knew him and who chose not to add fuel to any fires burning about his sexuality. It's a celebration of his music that broadens awareness for folk like me who didn't realise the scope of his skills, and it is a fitting and spangly tribute for those who did.