Beauty

I am confused by the idea of a film where the protagonist is an up and coming singer whom we never hear sing.

I spent the entire runtime trying to figure out what the director was trying to say by structuring the movie the way it was and have come up short.

Arguably one of the least engaging movies I've seen to date.

Like others said she NEVER sings!! All she does is fight with her family, hangout with her girlfriend (lover), smoke weed and cigarettes and watch music videos of famous black singers. Ugh, Don't waste you time!

Anyone who says this isn't a Whitney esq bio clearly is unaware of the Whitney story out of the mainstream. It feels like Lena was trying to attempt a quentin tarantino thing ... like he did with Once upon a time in Hollywood, giving us a truthful story with a fictional twist.

I can also understand a viewers aversion to the no singing approach. Which again was a stylistic choice, in a way to show us other singers and the culture of the time and how that in tow was her voice. The influences.

And the direction has a theatrical theme but never goes deep enough into the characters to ever engage with them, feel them and therefor care for them.

But what I struggled with most is... how is this from the same writer that gave us Queen and Slim!!!!!

Who's idea was it to not have her ever sing. Instead rely of real vintage footage at filler. Lazy filmmaking by the director/producer. What a disappointment, not only to viewers but to the great seasoned actors who put their faith on the script. Someone was overconfident. I feel for all the actors and the writer, because the flop is nowhere near their fault. I kept hoping we'd have her big shining moment. Just once, and the world stays quiet while she sings. I guess they thought they could get away with it being an artistic choice, but it failed miserably. Too bad.

This wasn't a biopic in the traditional sense of such stories. If you are looking at it from that genre, you will be very disappointed. I think the writer and production were trying to focus on the story of a talent going into the entertainment business and the changes for her, her family, and friends. Yes, it is very familiar to a life story we know well, but it is not about the talent, the voice, or the legend. We already know that part well. But what about the struggles that person faces with impending notoriety (i.e. R&b v. Pop star, traditional "good" church girl v. Alternative lifestyle, well-spoken v. Urban). The acting was good with what the actors had to work with. Photography was excellent. However, the plot and characters needed to be fill out more. And, the pacing was off in the build up to the end of one era for the singer and moving on to the next. I loved the interspersed video of singing legends, which more than made up for any musical accompaniment from the actors.